Maelstrom Sage Uzumaki Naruto
by ruto-kun-nata-chan
Summary: A secret task that Jiraiya had indulged 'Naruto' in now after the invasion of Pein shows it results. Watch as the new and improved Naruto take the Elemental Nation by storms.
1. Chapter 1

Here he laid in one of the makeshift medical tents pondering everything that had happened since his arrival back at Konoha after learning that Kōsuke the messenger toad left at Konoha had been killed. What Naruto had witnessed after returning was something he never wished to see… a destroyed Konoha.

The fight that had been insured between him and Pein had been stretched him beyond his limit… he had even lost control over himself and was on the verge of unsealing the fox… if not for the Yondaime the fox would have gone on a rampage… the Yondaime… his idol… the person who sealed the Kyūbi no Yōko in him… turned out to be his father… it was completely surreal.

But the highlight of the day was the return of his _**Chishio Bunshin (Blood Clone)**_… a jutsu that Jiraiya taught him in the first month of the training trip and finally when he had got the _**Chishio Bunshin no jutsu**_ down to perfection Jiraiya had him create one. What had been the fate of the clone he had never learned… till today.

The _**Chishio Bunshin**_ no jutsu was a highly advanced clone jutsu which far surpassed the standards of the _**Kage Bunshin no jutsu**_. It required a huge amount of blood and chakra to create that would put any normal shinobi in a comatose state or might possibly kill them, but he was the perfect shinobi to learn it. Even around that time he had enough chakra to create a thousand of _**Kage Bunshins**_ and would still be able to fight and his healing ability worked at a rate that the amount of blood needed for creating the _**Chishio Bunshin**_ would refill in his body with a good night's sleep… and even then he was wobbly on his feet for an entire day considering the amount of blood he had used to create the _**Chishio Bunshin**_.

In terms of abilities to the _**Chishio Bunshin**_ far surpassed the _**Kage Bunshin**_. Instead of being made out of pure chakra like the _**Kage Bunshin**_, it is made of both blood and chakra. It has the ability to regenerate the chakra it uses due to being blood based, but its chakra regeneration rate is slower than that of the original. It also requires a fatal wound to disperse. And also not only does the _**Chishio Bunshin**_ transfer experiences and memories when dispelled, but they also transfer the muscle memory to the original. The body of a _**Chishio Bunshin**_ holds about two-thirds the chakra of the original. It is also capable of performing all skills the original is capable of performing.

That is where he held an advantage using a jutsu. His healing abilities were powerful enough to heal any forms of major wounds with good night's rest and proper medication… minor wounds now-a-days healed in an instant… also the healing ability helped his chakra reserve to bounce back to normal way faster than an average shinobi… and being made of blood this abilities were transferred to the _**Chishio Bunshin**_ making it more durable than one could possible imagine.

It was in between the time he had separated from Konan and made his way towards the village and Kakashi-sensei coming to the aide of the tired him had the _**Chishio Bunshin**_ made his appearance.

_FLASHBACK…_

_He made his way silently towards the village after he had separated from Konan who had decided to return back to Amegakure. In his hands he held the bouquet of paper flowers that she had presented him… the one she called the Flowers of Hope. It was amazing to believe that the people who a few hours ago believed to be his enemies and the people that he wanted dead were now his friends and one of the few that truly believed in him._

_Nagato had sacrificed his life by using the __**Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu (Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique)**_ _to bring back all that he had killed during the invasion. Then there was Konan who followed Nagato and had been most vocal of not believing him in the path he had chosen… she too now believed him after Nagato entrusting his and their master's dream onto his shoulders… the bouquet was the proof of it._

_But his walk back to the village was truly grating his body… he had already gone beyond extremes in his fight with Pein and there was also a point where he had released eight tails of the Kyūbi… he didn't know what he looked like then, but it was bound to be something terrifying. His body was really sore at this moment and his senses were really dull… so dull that he failed to notice the appearance of someone knew next to him until the said person called onto him._

"_Hey there boss!" _

_The call alerted him of someone present next to him… but it didn't tingle his danger senses seeing that the only people to call him boss were his clones or Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon… but the problem here was that the voice was feminine and it sounded much older to be the voice of Moegi… so he decided to be on guard._ _He looked up to the newcomer to find a blonde female dressed in a red dress much similar to that of Hinata. It didn't take him more than a second to realize who the newcomer was… he would recognize that female from far afar too._

"_I don't remember creating a __**Kage Bunshin**__ of myself that hasn't been dispelled", commented Naruto with a small blush on his face… he had created the __**Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique) **__to weed out perverts and out of curiosity as to what his sister would look like if he ever had one… at that time the transformation was into a female version of him with clothes… and later when he read some stuffs from a book he had found in trash he had furthered that transformation and from that was born the __**Oiroke no jutsu**__._

_Now standing next to him was one of his clone transformed using the __**Oiroke no jutsu**__ wearing a red version of the outfit similar to that of Hinata and her face having a more feminine touch… the clone really looked beautiful and sexy at the same time._

"_I am not a __**Kage Bunshin**__… I am the __**Chishio Bunshin**__ you created during the first month on the training trip with Ero-Sennin", answered the female clone of his in a cute feminine voice which caused the pink tinge on his cheeks to darken._

_It took a minute for him to remember that particular event, but when he did a thousand questions were raised in his minds._

"_I remember… but all this time… Where were you? What Happened to you? How? When?" he wanted to ask so many things but his mind was unable to form the question… he was still tired._

"_Calm down boss… you will know everything… you just have to dispel me", answered the female clone with a wink at him._

_She was right on that count… he just needed to dispel her and would receive all the answers he needed… but did his clone had to really act flirty with him… and stupidly for him he was falling under her charms. _

_He silently watched as the clone of his undid the transformation and returned to being a male… a groan actually left his mouth at that…_

_Using a kunai he slashed his palm and that of the clone too… a wound big enough for the proper dispelling process to follow. Following the required hand seals, he clapped his slashed-blood covered palm with that of the clone and dispelled it. _

_It was at that moment he remembered how stupid his actions were… the clone had more than three years worth of memories and experiences… and even if the mind of the clone was more organized and would normally not cause a backlash to him… his current state wasn't the perfect to do so… he staggered on his feet for a few minutes and was about to take a major fall when Kakashi-sensei arrived has his savior._

…_FLASHBACK END._

He had somehow stayed awake through the entire ordeal of a small celebration by the entire village which was waiting for his return. He felt really lucky that Shizune-nee had chosen a good moment to intervene and drag him to the temporary medical tents where he had finally collapsed from the strain of the fight and the _**Chishio Bunshin**_ on both his mind and body.

After twenty-four hours of rest and medical care with his body and mind relieving from the strain of the fight with Pein and mind and body registering the experiences and memories of the _**Chishio Bunshin**_ (C.B.). Now awake he could feel the difference in him… he had memories and experiences of all that the C.B. had been doing for the past years… looking at the mirror he seemed to have grown an inch and a half… he also seemed to have gained some muscles too… and his hair seemed to have grown more wild and had a grown a bit too.

There were many highlights about the memories he had received from the C.B.… many that had big impacts on him… but the biggest impact was the first memory…

_FLASHBACK TO THE FIRST MEMORY OF THE CHISHIO BUNSHIN…_

_Jiraiya had dragged him a few seconds later after he had been created by the original that was now staggering on his feet. He watched silently as after being dragged a good distance, Jiraiya formed a few hand seals creating a barrier around them… which he would later learned was a sound barrier._

"_Listen well and Listen good Clone-Naruto… you remember that I asked Naruto for a very special reason… that reason is I want you to go on a trip of your own… a trip to the ruin of Uzushiogakure", said Jiraiya with a very serious look on his face which meant that the Gama Sennin meant business._

"_Uzushiogakure? Where is that? And why there?" asked the C.B.-Naruto with a complete confused look._

_Suddenly Jiraiya's face turned from a look of dead seriousness to a solemn look as he spoke, "I have been long since longing to tell this to the real Naruto ever since I met him… no even before I met him… but the laws made by the council stopped me… and even now I can't directly speak about it to Naruto."_

"_What is it?" asked a scared and confused C.B.-Naruto._

"_The identity of your parents", answered Jiraiya._

_There was silence for a minute… no words left the mouth of C.B.-Naruto as he stared at Jiraiya with a look of utter disbelief… then the silence shattered…_

"_YOU KNEW… YOU HAVE TO TELL ME… NO GO TELL THE BOSS… HE NEEDS TO KNOW… HE HAS TO KNOW… DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA HOW IT FEELS TO NOT KNOW WHO YOUR PARENTS ARE…? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM…? DID THEY LOVE ME OR NOT…? YOU HAVE TO TELL THE BOSS… YOU HAVE TO…"_

"_P-Please you have too?" begged the C.B.-Naruto seeing that look on Jiraiya's face hadn't changed._

"_I want to… but I can't… there are laws that stop me from doing so… I can't even tell you… and for that reason I want you travel to Uzushiogakure", said Jiraiya._

"_What's so special about Uzushiogakure?" asked C.B.-Naruto._

"_Uzushiogakure is the home of the Uzumaki clan… the clan you belong too… the birth place of your mother…" answered Jiraiya._

…_END FLASHBACK._

He remembered Jiraiya then telling C.B. about what he knew and what was known of the Uzumaki clan and Uzushiogakure… the location of Uzushiogakure… the significance of the Uzumaki clan and Uzushiogakure clan to Konohagakure… the relation of the Uzumaki clan and the Senju clan… and what he knew of the destruction of Uzushiogakure. But in all that information he spoke nothing of his parents… except for his mother had been shipped to Konoha at a very young age for some unknown reason. He also promised to C.B.-Naruto that he was to not tell the real him anything of this until he returned from his solo training trip to Uzushiogakure. Before Jiraiya had made C.B.-Naruto go on his journey, he placed a seal on C.B.-Naruto that would stop any memory flow from C.B.-Naruto and the _**Kage Bunshins**_ he would use back to the original… the training trip of C.B.-Naruto had to remain a secret from him until C.B.-Naruto returned from the trip… which was six months after he returned to Konoha.

It had taken the C.B.-Naruto a week to finally reach Uzushiogakure… the village of his ancestors. All the while he travelled to his location, C.B.-Naruto had used the unique transformation he had developed seeing that he never was able to do a genjutsu to save his life… transforming into an owl-eagle C.B.-Naruto had travelled all his way to Uzushiogakure. While he had entered the land of Uzu no Kuni, C.B.-Naruto had felt something tingle him… which he later learned to be a barrier around the nation which was made to stop any intruder from entering the islands without permission… and only his Uzumaki heritage which the barrier recognized let him enter the country.

What he remembered of Uzushiogakure through the memories and experience of C.B.-Naruto from more than three years at his ancestors' village… the village was about two times the size of Konohagakure and seemed prosperous and progressed… the Uzumaki clan compound was three time in size of the Senju clan compound. Interestingly enough the village itself was shaped like a giant spiral.

Just had Jiraiya had informed C.B.-Naruto, the village was turned into ruins and there were skeletons all around the village. C.B.-Naruto had buried all their skeletons and given the dead proper respect… be it the invaders or defenders… newborns or elders… women or men… boys or girls… civilian or shinobi.

It was his extreme luck which had passed to C.B.-Naruto because of which he had found the hidden underground libraries and safe houses of the Uzumaki clan from where he learned about the secrets and history of his clan, jutsu archives, armors and weapons and much more.

With that found C.B.-Naruto had started his secret training that Jiraiya had spoken of him to do with a renewed vigor after learning the proud history of his clan. It also helped that C.B.-Naruto had learned the secret of _**Kage Bunshin**_ within his first week at Uzushiogakure since he used them not for fighting like him, but used them for search purpose. It was because of the ability of the _**Kage Bunshin**_ was C.B.-Naruto aware of what was going on with him and all he learned… the process didn't go the other way because of the seal Jiraiya had placed on C.B.-Naruto.

The training that C.B.-Naruto did centered on the specialty of the Uzumaki clan… the art of Fūinjutsu and other secrets he had learned of his clan through the scrolls. The amount of knowledge of Fūinjutsu and Fūinjutsu related sills that C.B.-Naruto had found was mind boggling… it would make Seal Masters jealous… and was certain that Jiraiya would be jealous too… that much was the knowledge. He being an apprentice of Jiraiya had learned the art of Fūinjutsu in which the pervert was considered a master, yet the knowledge he currently had courtesy of C.B.-Naruto was something he was certain that Jiraiya would die to get hands on. Also by learning the Uzumaki clan Fūinjutsu secrets, his inability of using Fūinjutsu and related skills in a fight because of his not so good calligraphy skills… which had improved a lot since he started calligraphy training under Jiraiya… was solved as the secrets behind Uzumaki clan's Fūinjutsu skills was their ability to form seals without the need of ink or paper. The members of Uzumaki clan used their chakra to form seals and any surface worked as paper for them… the only downside was that you need to have a huge amount of chakra and skills at Fūinjutsu… every Uzumaki was born with both and so was he.

As for the Hiden (Secret) jutsus and Kinjutsus of the clan that C.B.-Naruto had come across and had learned a few… it was hard to believe that such jutsus even existed. It was no wonder considering the Fūinjutsu skills and the Hiden jutsu and Kinjutsus of the clan, the Uzumaki clan was so feared throughout the Elemental Nations.

Also in the time before he had yet to know of the elemental affinity he had, C.B.-Naruto had already trained himself in Suiton nature transformation and ninjutsu… the element which the Uzumaki clan seemed to be the specialist of. He was amazed by the knowledge of Suiton jutsus that C.B.-Naruto had come across the scrolls he had found in the hidden libraries of his clan. There was possibly over thousands of Suiton jutsus of various levels, powers, ranks and abilities. No one person could ever be able to learn that amount of jutsus unless he had about five to ten years of free times on their hands.

Meanwhile the time he was here in Konoha learning of Fūton manipulation and working on improving the _**Rasengan**_, C.B.-Naruto was learning of Doton manipulation and ninjutsu using the same method he was using for learning Fūton manipulation… using _**Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multiple Shadow Clone Technique)**_. Though the amount of knowledge on Doton ninjutsu was not as wide as that of Suiton ninjutsu, but it would still be considered large. Also after his training with Fūton manipulation had finished, C.B.-Naruto had learned Fūton ninjutsus that he was unable because of the continuous missions and also not being provided with any scrolls. C.B.-Naruto had also come up with two entirely new Fūton jutsus which could be classified as A-rank ninjutsus using the principle of Rasengan and a Fūton jutsu he had learned from the scrolls of the library.

But the greatest accomplishment of C.B.-Naruto was he had succeeded in the use of Jikūkan ninjutsu. It was something that he wished to accomplish since he had learned that not only was the Yondaime, but also the Nidaime was skilled in Jikūkan ninjutsu. He had pestered Jiraiya to train him about Jikūkan ninjutsu. Jiraiya did train him in the art of Jikūkan ninjutsu to some extent, but his knowledge was not that great and mostly revolved around _**Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) **_and some useful tips from Tsunade from time to time. He was very close on creation his own Jikūkan ninjutsu before he had heard of the death of Jiraiya… his experiments were bearing fruits… but since he learned of the death of Jiraiya his mind was focused on taking revenge by killing the man that had killed Jiraiya… and he seemed to have forgotten of his Jikūkan ninjutsu experiment. But that is where C.B.-Naruto came in… C.B.-Naruto received all his memories whenever he used made a _**Kage Bunshin**_ and thus had learned of his Jikūkan ninjutsu experiment. C.B.-Naruto had continued the experiment from where he had stopped. Unlike him C.B.-Naruto had abundance of knowledge of Jikūkan manipulation and ninjutsu through the scrolls of Uzumaki clan and hence was able to complete the jutsu he was experimenting on and had succeeded in completing the jutsu.

The jutsu he was experimenting… or rather was trying to recreate… the second original jutsu of the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato… the _**Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)**_. Jiraiya had told him that the Hiraishin no Jutsu of the Yondaime had nothing to do with the special kunai he used, but it worked from his ability at Jikūkan manipulation and the Jutsu-Shiki (Technique Formula) the Yondaime created using Fūinjutsu. Now he had the _**Hiraishin no jutsu**_ in his grasps… though he didn't have a special weapon give it more awesomeness.

There was not the only accomplishment of C.B.-Naruto in terms of Jikūkan ninjutsu… C.B.-Naruto had learned a couple of other jutsus too and was working on creation of one of a new Jikūkan ninjutsu. He also learned that C.B.-Naruto had also was able to… in terms now he too… create pocket dimensions the size of the Uzumaki clan compound, but had only advanced as far as to creating them on scrolls… the project was still under work.

The next greatest accomplishment of C.B.-Naruto was that he had finally succeeded in forming the _**Rasengan**_ with a single hand… a thing that had eluded him for years. Maybe now it could be possible… his _**Chishio Bunshin**_ had succeeded.

Bringing his right hand forward he started… here was his moment… slowly and steadily the _**Rasengan**_ started to form in his hand… and a second later it did… the _**Rasengan**_ was formed. He couldn't help but feel elated… he had finally after years had succeeded in forming a _**Rasengan**_ single-handedly… though it was not as fast as he formed now-a-days… but it was formed at the speed that he formed the _**Rasengan**_ before he started infusing the _**Rasengan**_ with Fūton chakra. But that was not the most surprising thing to him as he formed the _**Rasengan**_… no it was the size of the _**Rasengan**_… the _**Rasengan**_ in his hands now was the size of _**Dokonjō Rasengan (Guts Rasengan)**_ which had used to destroy the flying ruins of Sora no Kuni (Land of the Sky). Now that was completely new… neither him nor C.B.-Naruto had been able to create a _**Rasengan**_ this big when they tried to form a normal _**Rasengan**_… so he tried again a few times and achieved the same result.

He decided to ponder about the size of the _**Rasengan**_ sometimes later… he could even call onto Fukasaku-jii-chan to help him understand about it. Currently his thoughts roamed on the amount of jutsus, knowledge and skills C.B.-Naruto had learned over the past three years. It was clear that it was because that C.B.-Naruto had nothing to do other than train, learn about their clan and a few things here and there… and it also helped being able to produce an army of _**Kage Bunshin **_to your help… not as many as him, but still a large army. He had to wonder did Jiraiya even think that C.B.-Naruto would be learning so much in this amount of time… if he did then Ero-Sennin was super awesome… if he didn't even then Ero-Sennin would remain super awesome as it was his ideas.

Then there were other things C.B.-Naruto had learned that had shocked him to his core from the history archives of the clan. First being that he was not the first Jinchūriki of Kyūbi… he was apparently the third. The first Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi was Senju-Uzumaki Mito – the wife of the Shodai Hokage. She had sealed the Kyūbi inside of her after Senju Hashirama had gained control of the fox during his fight with Madara at the Valley of the End… Madara was using the fox to fight Hashirama… Mito sealed it inside of her to keep the destructive power of the Kyūbi at bay. When Mito had grown old a young girl that possessed special chakra form the clan was sent to Konoha to be the second Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi… to keep the foxes power at bay… her name Uzumaki Kushina… for some reason that name stirred a feeling inside of him… a feeling similar to the one he had towards Tsunade-baa-chan. So to speak, Konoha had always had the Kyūbi in its hands.

That was not the only fact that he learned about the Kyūbi… he learned of the connection of the fox with the Rikudō Sennin. To think that the Rikudō Sennin was not a myth, but a reality did astound him… also learning that there was once a beast with more tails than the Kyūbi… it was terrifying to even think.

His thoughts were further interrupted by the opening of the tent door and in walked Ino.

"Oh, Good! You are finally awake Naruto!" said Ino in a joyous tone.

"What are you doing here Ino? And what is this place?" asked Naruto a bit confused… though for the first time in many years he was paying attention at the beautiful face of Ino… and for the first time he admired her curves.

"This is the temporary medical tents… and I am here because I am your medic", answered Naruto as she walked towards Naruto forming required hand seals for the diagnostic jutsu making her hands flow green… then placing the hands around the chest area of Naruto.

"Oh! So you are my nurse!" blurted out Naruto.

Those words made Ino lose focus on the diagnostic jutsu as her head jerked up at Naruto with a look of shock on her face… it was not the words, but the tone of his voice that shocked her… a flirting tone…

"Eh! Eh, I… I suppose…" Ino hated this… she was stuttering… she was Yamanaka Ino that not even stutter while talking to Sasuke… and now she was stuttering while talking to Naruto… the dead last she had ignored for a long time… someone she only started to pay attention to after him defeating Hyūga Neji and the missions they had gone on together before he had left on a trip with Jiraiya… and later one she was awed by when he saw him fight Kakuzu… and now who was the village hero.

"I… I mean like the nurses at the hospital that love to stick needles even if having no reason to", replied Naruto with an innocent-scared look on his face after hearing Ino stutter… the words that had blurted out of his mouth, he knew full well what he meant by that… and it seemed Ino did too… normally something of a sort he would avoid thinking… but it seemed the free time his _**Chishio Bunshin**_ had, that damned clone had used for recreational reading and his reading mostly consisted of the Icha-Icha series and the adult materials that Jiraiya had handed to him… that damned clone was hooked to it and by experiencing the clones memories he too couldn't help think of perverted things… it especially didn't help that the girl was as good looking and curvaceous as Ino.

"Oh! No… No I am nothing like those nurses", Ino answered… seriously she had to get a grip on her thoughts… this was Naruto… he hardly was the one to make such flirty comments… and she had imagined a very lewd scene with her and Naruto taking his comment into consideration… she might have admired the blonde a bit, especially after his fight with Kakuzu her admiration for him might have increased, but never had she thought of something like that with Naruto.

"Ino, you alright?" asked Naruto… Ino's face had taken a crimson color… he hoped that she was sick or something during Pein's invasion and was looking after him even after she wasn't alright.

"Eh? Oh! I… I am al-alright!" Ino stuttered the answer and quickly sped through the hand seals for the diagnostic jutsu once again… and was back to her work on checking whether Naruto was completely healed or not.

"Ok!" said Naruto… though he believed Ino, he was still certain that something was still wrong with her… even if the crimson color of her face had noticeably reduced, there was still a small hint of it… and Yamanaka Ino never stuttered.

Naruto decided to let that matter slide of his mind for the moment and focus more on dispersing the thoughts that were currently roaming as his eyes kept on savoring the glances of the blonde medic… from her hip-length blonde hair done in a high ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face… her blue eyes… her beautiful face… her curvaceous frame… her sizeable bosoms… her open waist… her hips… and her shapely legs… all this features that he would normally try avoid thinking of… he would notice them, but had long since thought that women hated perverts and so wouldn't go thinking of them… but because of that damned clone and his reading of adult literature, he couldn't help but think of it… Ino certainly was a beautiful and a hot girl… he just wished that she didn't have Sakura or Tsunade-baa-chan's tendency of collateral damage when around perverts.

The blonde hair of Ino suddenly reminded him of another blonde… a memory of C.B.-Naruto where his clone had come across a blonde friend of his while he rushed back to Konoha to help him after C.B.-Naruto had completed the Hiraishin no jutsu and had seen that it could be used in actual combat…

"Ino… How long was I out?" asked Naruto.

"About thirty-six hours… you had all of us worried you know… suddenly collapsing after being brought to the medical tent…" answered Ino as she stopped her diagnostic jutsu "… and you are completely fine it seems."

'Thirty-six hours!' thought Naruto… he was surprised that he had been out for that long… but it was something he should have anticipated… more than three years worth of mind and muscle memory… and add the strain from the fight with Pein.

"I guess… the strain with the fight with Pein was much than I had expected", answered Naruto… the reply he received was something he have would never estimate even in his wildest dreams… something like that he believed never to be a possibility… the reply came in the form of the soft lips of Ino were pressed on his right cheek and stayed there for a few seconds making his eyes go wide… but that was not the only thing shocking as he felt wet drops falling on his right cheek which his eyes found to be tears flowing down of Ino's eyes.

"Ino!" he spoke as Ino separated from him concerned for the blonde gossip queen as tears continued to flow down her eyes.

"T-That was my thanks to you… for saving us… for defeating Pein", said Ino tears still flowing down her eyes and a smile gracing her face.

"Ino I didn't do anything significant… I just did…" Naruto wanted to say something but was interrupted him.

"Yes, you didn't do anything significant Naruto… you did something beyond significance. When Pein invaded and attacked Konoha… all of the shinobi forces tried to fight him… from trying to defend, attack and counterattack… nothing seemed to work on Pein… we were failing significantly… people were dying left and right… I myself saw many die… one of them was Shizune-senpai… we could do nothing… and then within a few seconds the whole village was destroyed… we… I lost all hope… then you arrived… and fought Pein on equal grounds… even after losing control over the Kyūbi you didn't give up… you forced it back and returned… this time you defeated Pein… then from Katsuyu we heard that you had gone to confront the real Pein… and suddenly a few minutes later all dead were coming back to life… it was Katsuyu that told us of what you did… you changed the man behind Pein… made him see his path was not the right one… and in turn he sacrificed himself to bring back all he had killed in the invasion… You are a True Hero Uzumaki Naruto!" said Ino as by the tears in her eyes had stopped flowing and she had the biggest smile on her face.

The eyes of Naruto kept on widening with each sentence/word she spoke… he felt her despair when she spoke of death she had seen… and also felt the sincerity with which she called him a hero… every word Ino spoke, she had spoken with all her heart in it. He wanted to respond that even though all she said was true about him fighting Pein… but he hadn't done it alone, he had help… help from Katsuyu… help from the information the villagers and Jiraiya had gathered… the help from Hinata (he was unable to remember the words Hinata had spoken… his mind at that time was fuzzy because of the Chakra Disruption Blades that were stabbed throughout his body)… and finally great help from his father. But before he could respond, his eyes that were by now widened to the size of the dinner plates were further widened (if such a thing was possible)… his reply was cut short in his mouth as for the second time the soft lips of Ino were once again connected with his face… but his time it wasn't his cheeks… her soft and tender lips were now gently placed on his lips… she tasted like cherries.

For the next few seconds neither of the two moved as Ino's lips remained gently placed on Naruto's lips… she didn't know what had gotten into her when she gently smashed her lips with his… first it was a small, gentle kiss to his cheeks, now a soft and gentle kiss on his lips… and above all this was her first lip-kiss and she was kissing Naruto… never in her wildest dreams she could have imagined something like this… ok, maybe she fancied him a bit since his fight with Kakuzu and had started seeing him in a completely new light… still to share a kiss was not something she had imagined… but still there was no hesitation in her heart or no second thought that what she was doing was something wrong… her lips placed on his, the feeling of it, it felt so right… and of course Naruto tasted of various flavors of ramen. She wanted to further the feeling, further the kiss, but didn't knowing full well that Naruto was freaked out by her sudden action… his eyes had widened to the size she thought it to be impossible… she was about to withdraw from the kiss, from the wonderful feeling… it was then it happened… this time Naruto took the initiative and furthered the kiss as he started to suck on her lips… this time it was her turn to be shocked, but she didn't let that shock stop her from getting more that wonderful feeling… she too started sucking on his lips… and a few seconds later she parted her lips giving Naruto access to her mouth and he didn't disappoint her as his tongue invaded her mouth… their tongues then began a dance with each other… it felt really good as the deep kiss send shivers of joy down her body… to think Naruto would make her body respond in that manner… and to think that she was having such an intimate moment with the blonde… she actually didn't mind, on the contrary she was loving it.

Naruto didn't know what had gotten into him… one moment Ino's lips were gently pressed onto his lips he was shell-shocked… but a feeling stirred within him when he found the small scared look on Ino's face when she found him shell-shocked and he knew that she was feeling that she had done something wrong… he didn't like that look on her face… she had done nothing wrong, he was just shell-shocked… so the very next moment he felt Ino's lips about to leave his, he took the initiative as he gently started to suck her lips… and to his surprise she too started sucking on his lips a second later… if that wasn't enough a few seconds of sucking each other lips Ino parted her lips… he being around Jiraiya for about three years and the recreational reading of that damned clone knew exactly what to do next… his tongue invaded her mouth… feeling every corner of her delicate mouth… and then their tongues met and he started playing with her tongue with his.

It was a full minute later the two blondes separated from each other to get some air to their lungs with their faces flushed crimson of knowing full well that they just shared a deep kiss… but neither seemed to be regretting it… both seemed to have loved it.

"Ino! Did we just…?" Naruto tried to ask… but the questioned died in his mouth.

"Indeed you idiot… we ki-kiss-kissed", Ino tried to reply in a haughty tone but her stuttering made her fail dramatically at that… and the dark crimson blush didn't help either.

"I-I see", replied Naruto as the blush on his face darkened too… he just didn't know what to say.

Seeing the confusion on Naruto's face, Ino got a hint of what he might be thinking… it was something she had learned during her training in her clan ninjutsu and which later helped her too learn some juicy gossips… but Uzumaki Naruto was one of the few that was hardest for her to read… sometimes the emotions could be clearly seen flowing on his face and by his actions and sometimes he put so many masks that it was impossible to penetrate them… but now was one of the time she could clearly read his emotions… he was confused and shocked…

"It was a thank you… thanks to all you have done for us… and for things you unknowingly did for me", said Ino.

"Ino!" the word left Naruto's lips… he could already tell, the words she spoke were true, but also they were half true… there seemed to be more behind the kiss… but he decided to let it rest for the time being until Ino decided to tell him the whole truth… or he knew that there would be an awkward situation created between the two.

"OH! I completely forgot! The other's asked me to inform them as soon as you were awakened… everyone is worried about you, you know… also there is this girl named Hotaru that arrived about a couple of hours ago searching for you… and according to her, you are aware that she is coming here", Ino said.

Naruto completely missed the tone and the twitching of Ino's eyebrows when she spoke of Hotaru… his mind had reeled back to the memory of C.B.-Naruto of the day his clone had come across Hotaru… it was while C.B.-Naruto rushed back towards the village, he had come across Hotaru who seemed to be searching for Utakata… it didn't take long for C.B.-Naruto to come to the conclusion that Utakata was captured by the Akatsuki… so he had asked Hotaru to come with him back to Konoha which she accepted after some protest… also she held onto the scroll that C.B.-Naruto had sealed away most of the things he had found at Uzushiogakure and Uzumaki clan.

"Hotaru… so she arrived too… good… and yes I was waiting for her", answered Naruto.

"Oh… oh I see… she is currently with Sakura… I will go tell the others and her that you are awake", said Ino and quickly left the room confusing Naruto at the way of her speech.

After Ino left, the first thing that Naruto concentrated was finding something good to wear… he was in the hospital gown… and the state of his clothes next to his bed curbed his desire to wear them even if they were orange… and he knew he couldn't go searching for his spare clothes in the rubbles of Konoha and neither could he find his spares at Mount Myōboku as he was certain that Shima-baa-chan must have already set them on fire… she never understood the greatness of orange. That left him with the clothes that Shima-baa-chan had made for him along with the red coat.

Swiping some blood on a small storage seal on a scroll from the pockets of his original clothes… he held in front of him the clothes that Shima-baa-chan had made for him and grumbled in annoyance… they didn't have orange… but having no choice he put them on.

Currently he was dressed in an outfit which consisted of black ninja pants, a full sleeve black t-shirt, black ninja sandals black fingerless gloves. The shoulders and the back of his black t-shirt bore the crest of the Uzumaki clan. Underneath the black t-shirt he wore a mesh undershirt and his fingerless gloves had metal plate on which was engraved the symbol of Mount Myōboku. As always his hitai-te (forehead protector) was tied to his forehead, but unlike before his messy hair which had seen a small growth during the last thirty-six hours now hid the hitai-te from plain view… his hair-style now resembled more closely to the Yondaime without the jaw-length bangs which framed both sides of the Yondaime's face.

Now that his mind had finally organized all the memories of experiences of C.B.-Naruto and being alone for the time being, a thousand question pooped in his mind of which he believed only Tsunade-baa-chan could give answers too. Now that he thought about it, by now either Tsunade-baa-chan or Shizune-nee would be there to check on him… but it wasn't so as Ino was there to look after him… for Tsunade-baa-chan and Shizune-nee not to be here there was something very wrong… now that he thought about it he did feel the chakra of Tsunade-baa-chan was very low while he had sensed the village after Nagato had brought all those killed during invasion back to life.

With that thought in mind, Naruto's hands flipped through hand seals of the strongest Hiden (Secret) sensory ninjutsu of his clan. The jutsu helps the user to find, sense and track individuals through their chakra signatures over a vast range… as per the scroll, for a master of the jutsu the range could exceed over hundred kilometers… his was about ten kilometers. The jutsu also helps to detect when someone or the user is under a genjutsu. In hands of a master the jutsu also can be used to help detect one's emotions through the fluctuation of chakra. The clan scroll also mentioned of some members capable of keeping the jutsu active all the time.

"_**Kagura Shingan (Mind's Eye of the Divine Entertainment)!**_", said Naruto as he focused to open his mind's eye. With the jutsu now active, he searched through the entire of Konoha searching for the specific signature of Tsunade. It didn't take him much long and what he saw was something he didn't like. She seemed to be in a tent with Shizune next to her, but what caught his attention were her low chakra levels and the chakra flow seemed to have slowed down throughout her body and also her unmoving body… she was alive that was certain, but her current state only helped him conclude that Tsunade-baa-chan was comatose.

"Baa-chan!" the word left his mouth as a tear drop fell of his eyes… he needed to go see his mother-figure… to get a conformation on her condition.

Quickly gathering all his stuffs and sealing them away he was about to leave when the curtains of the tent slid open and in walked Nara Shikaku and an ANBU wearing a mask with dog motif inclusive of pointed ears, detailed eyebrows and three, thick stripes with two along either sides of his cheek and one on his forehead and brown, spiky hair.

"Good to see that you have awakened Naruto", said Shikaku.

"Thanks… Just awakened a few moments ago… Ino was here to check up on my condition and declared me completely fine… and a few minutes ago went to inform the others", answered Naruto.

"I know… it was Ino who informed us about you awakening", replied Shikaku… both he and the ANBU couldn't help but notice the small changes in the blonde's physique.

"I see. Did you want something from me Shikaku-san, ANBU-san?" asked Naruto seeing that Shikaku had a serious-business face.

"Yes… we wish to speak with you with something of utmost importance… of the meeting we had with Daimyō-sama just a few hours ago", answered the ANBU Commander.

"With me?" asked a surprised Naruto.

"Yes, with you. A couple of ANBU are on the outside stopping anyone from disturbing our meeting and putting a sound-proof barrier around the tent", replied the ANBU Commander.

"I see… as for the barrier, I can do that if you want to", replied Naruto… things were really becoming confusing for him.

"You can use barrier ninjutsu… I wasn't aware of that", said a surprised Shikaku.

"Indeed I can… I am the student of Jiraiya of the Sannin… he specialized in Fūinjutsu and Kekkai (Barrier) Ninjutsu… he thought me all about the two arts… it is only because of my not so good calligraphy skills that I cannot use seals in a fight while I charge head-on, so Kekkai Ninjutsu didn't favor my style much", answered Naruto.

"That will certainly do", replied Shikaku… he too like the ANBU Commander was shocked even if neither showed it… they weren't aware that the blonde was skilled in the arts of Fūinjutsu and Kekkai Ninjutsu… this also made them wonder whether the blonde had other skills that he had yet to use as they watched the blonde form couple of hand seals and then clap his hands together…

"_**Kekkai: Koerō Hōjin (Barrier: Voice prison Method Formation)!**_" whispered Naruto… erecting a spherical sound barrier around the tent with him as the centre.

Both Shikaku and the ANBU Commander were impressed… they had felt the formation of the barrier and could tell that it was a strong barrier… also the ease with which the blonde created the barrier gave them the confirmation that Naruto was skilled with Kekkai Ninjutsu.

"The barriers is up and active", said Naruto.

"Good… Now Naruto, are you told of the condition of Tsunade-sama?" Shikaku spoke up.

"No… but after finding that neither Tsunade-baa-chan nor Shizune-nee coming to check up on me… also Ino being my medic… I felt something up… so I tried to sense Tsunade-baa-chan's chakra… and from it I concluded her to be in a state of coma…" Naruto answered and with a gaze that shocked both the man he asked "… Is it true?"

Both could see a number of emotions spinning in those blue orbs… from sadness to despair to dread… it was already clear to most that the blonde viewed the older blonde in a very high-light, but seeing the emotions in his eyes when he spoke of Tsunade's state it was clear to both that he held Tsunade at a level that they had never comprehended.

"Unfortunately it is the truth… Tsunade-sama is comatose… she overused her chakra while she used Katsuyu's _**Katsuyu Daibunretsu (Slug Great Division)**_ ability to help protect the entire village and heal those in need at the same time… she is been unconscious since then… we don't know when she'll wake up and neither can Shizune determine it", answered Shikaku.

"I-I see… but if I know baa-chan, she will not stay down long…. She needs her sake after all", replied Naruto lightning the situation… chuckles left the mouth of Shikaku and the ANBU Commander, though neither missed the tears that seemed to have gathered in his eyes ready to spill down.

"Indeed! Now Naruto we better get onto the topic we are here for…" said Shikaku and at Naruto's nod he retold Naruto of what had gone during the meeting with the Daimyō… after making him promise that he would not interrupt until he finished his retelling of events.

_FLASHBACK…_

_(Authors Note: The meeting with the Daimyō happens the same way as in cannon Naruto until Danzō nominates himself for the post of the Hokage.)_

"_Maybe we should let Danzō take care of things, Daimyō-sama", spoke one of the councilors of the Daimyō._

_Thinking over it and seeing no options the Daimyō spoke, "I… I guess… If there seems to be no other nominee…"_

"_Actually there is another nominee… one better than Hatake Kakashi…" said Shikaku interrupting _

"_Who might that be?" asked the Daimyō before anyone could say anything… he never had liked Danzō and his ways and ideals._

_On the sidelined Danzō inwardly growled, but try he may he couldn't think of anyone better than Kakashi for the post… except that boy… but he was certain that the Nara wouldn't be thinking of him._

"_Uzumaki Naruto", answered Shikaku._

"_Uzumaki Naruto… the one who defeated Pein, the leader of Akatsuki… a very interesting choice", said a surprised Daimyō… his councilors were surprised to._

"_He is just a child and a genin to be exact", Danzō spoke up… inwardly he was cursing Nara for even thinking of the boy._

"_As Danzō should know that age is not of importance in the shinobi world… the Kazekage is the proof of that… As for Naruto being a genin… we all know that his skills and abilities far surpass those of genins and currently with the condition of Tsunade-sama he is the strongest of Konoha-shinobis", replied Shikaku._

_But Shikaku hadn't just finished there as he spoke directly to the Daimyō, "And Daimyō-sama I am certain that you are aware of the heritage of Uzumaki Naruto."_

"_Yes… Yes I am… Uzumaki Naruto… son of the Yondaime Hokage – Namikaze Minato and the Uzumaki Clan Head – Uzumaki Kushina… and with the current state of Tsunade, the Head of the Senju clan and the Uzumaki clan… not only that… he is an apprentice of Jiraiya of the Sannin and was on the genin team of Hatake Kakashi… if I am not mistaken… A fine choice", the Daimyō said._

"_But I would still ask… Why should I choose him after what Danzō pointed out?" asked the Daimyō… keeping the hopes of Danzō still alive._

"_I completely disagree with Danzō… the Sandaime was the student of the Shodai and the Nidaime and followed their teachings and preached them… as it is Konoha was built on those values and morals of the Shodai… as for the betrayal of Sunagakure, Daimyō-sama the reasons has already been known for years now and it was only because Konohagakure followed the teachings of our ancestors did we avoid going in a full scale war with Suna… and as of the leader of the Akatsuki, Jiraiya-sama just couldn't turn his back on little children… and what they made of what Jiraiya-sama thought them was not something Jiraiya-sama could conclude… also it was because of Naruto convincing Pein to abandon his path that we are currently working on only the reconstruction of the village and not digging graves for the countless that died during the invasion…" those words of Shikaku made a huge impact in the room, but he wasn't finished yet "… also because of Naruto our relationships with several small nations have been great… and the Kazekage thinks highly of Naruto and considers him a friend… also a lot of political marriages have been put forth with Naruto as the bridegroom from almost all the nations that he has helped to strengthen the alliance between our countries and only because he was not yet promoted to the rank of the chuunin were they held back."_

_Hook Line and Sinker… Shikaku knew that his argument had bagged this…_

…_END FLASHBACK._

"As it is… by the power of the Daimyō of Hi no Kuni… Uzumaki Naruto… you are appointed as the Rokudaime Hokage Kōho (Sixth Hokage Candidate)", said Shikaku.

**END CHAPTER…**

**The fiction is the redone of 'NIDAIME GAMA SENNIN', the fiction I had cancelled and deleted… though there is quite some change in the story, but it will follow the plotline I had devised for 'NIDAIME GAMA SENNIN'… SO ENJOY.**

**As 'NIDAIME GAMA SENNIN' this fiction will also have a harem and follow the same list as that of 'NIDAIME GAMA SENNIN'… Hinata, Kurotsuchi, Samui… also added are Ino and many others…**

**Also stop spamming about not to make it Naruto-Hinata fiction… I am a fan of Naruto-Hinata pairing.**


	2. A clash of opposing notions!

A large group consisting of Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chōji, Neji, Lee, Sai, Kakashi, Yamato, Gai, Iruka, Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Tenten, Hotaru, Kurenai, Anko and Shizune were patiently waiting outside the tent of Naruto which was currently being guarded by a couple of ANBU. The more experienced shinobis among the group could see the tell-tale signs of a barrier surrounding the tent and if what the two ANBU guards hinted about Shikaku, the ANBU Commander, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were discussing some stuffs with Naruto which needed privacy, they knew something big had taken place… and so they all patiently waited.

All the while the group waited outside, Shikamaru couldn't help but feel that something had changed drastically in their lives and a much bigger change was going to take place in the upcoming future. As it was Naruto had grown to a level of power that was currently beyond their reach. Also from what he had heard from Sakura and Ino, Hinata had finally confessed her feelings to Naruto in the heat of the battle, though he had doubts about whether Naruto remembered it considering the situation as he had heard from Katsuyu. Then there was the small change in both Ino and Sakura when they had talked of it, it was almost unrecognizable and if he didn't already know that Ino had unknowingly come to like the blonde he would certainly have not guessed it in her case, both Ino and Sakura seemed shocked about learning of Hinata's confession and he could see a hint of jealousy and defeat in their eyes, though he was certain that Sakura would never admit it to be so, the girl was too hung on the traitor. Then there was the glow in Ino when she had come to tell them of Naruto waking up; something had happened there while she talked to the blonde. What had happened he didn't know, but whatever it was had lifted Ino's spirit back, though there was a hint of guilt in her and also she seemed more reluctant to talk with Hinata? Then there was the girl Hotaru. He could tell that there was more to the girl then her just here coming to visit the blonde, she seemed to have a guarded feeling of something and he was certain that it had something to do with Naruto. And finally was this, in front of him stood ANBU guards outside of Naruto's tent and inside the blonde was having a discussion with four of the most important members of Konohagakure administration…

It was just too troublesome and always the blonde had a way to make thinks troublesome for him. As his mind thought over the situation, it rapidly started to connect the dots of the latest development and the conclusion he was coming up with forced a smile graced his always sleepy face. If his conclusion was indeed the truth then the world was going to be a lot more troublesome according to him and as always the blonde had stood up to his title of being the most unpredictable ninja.

The door of the tent slid open and from there out walked the two elders which made up the Konoha Council both looking oddly satisfied with whatever they seemed to have discussed with Naruto and also seemed to be in a hurry increasing the curiosity of those waiting outside the tent. About ten minutes later the ANBU Commander walked out, acknowledging and greeting the presence of the jōnins and giving some orders to the ANBU guards, he to left in a rush.

Now the curiosity of the group was on a new high as even if it wasn't seen on the face of the ANBU Commander, it was clear that he was a man on a mission or rather missions, even the two elderly Konoha Council members seemed to be in a rush as if to get some urgent work done… whatever was going on inside the tent now seemed really important.

Another ten minutes later they were allowed to finally enter the tent and enter they did. On entry two things caught the attention of the group… first being the files that were stacked around Naruto and the second being that the blonde was dressed entirely in black that looked like the Konoha shinobi outfit without the flak jacket, also a few noticed the small changes in Naruto's appearance.

"Hey guys, nice to see you all… and you too Hotaru", Naruto said as he greeted the newcomers that had entered the tent… he had expected a few, but certainly not this many.

But even before Naruto could show his surprise at so many present or say another word a blonde blur tackled him, which happened to be Hotaru who now was tightly hugging him and was freely crying in his embrace.

Naruto had anticipated this from what he learned from the memories of the **Chishio Bunshin**. Hotaru had already gone through a lot and finally when she had a chance at a new, peaceful life she lost Utakata too, the person who she considered as her mentor and an elder brother, but he certainly didn't anticipate that she would hug him so fiercely the first time she would see him. Now that she was hugging him and crying out all of her loss, he just didn't understand what to do and so he did the only thing that came to his mind as he wrapped his arms around her in a gentle manner and let her cry on him.

Meanwhile the others in the room were completely stunned by this, no one had anticipated this. They just watched Hotaru cry out her loss in Naruto's chest as she hugged him fiercely while Naruto gently held her in his embrace. No one could wrap their minds around the situation.

"Feeling good?" Naruto asked after Hotaru had finally stopped crying… it had been more than five minutes since she had hugged him.

"Y-Yes", answered Hotaru while still in Naruto's embrace… she just didn't want to leave him to find that she would lose him too. She knew that it was a stupid fear of hers, but still she held for another minute after letting go of him after which he made her rest on the chair next to her bed.

"So…?" Naruto asked looking at the others… there seemed to be an awkward silence between them.

Luckily Shikamaru as always came through for such situations as he spoke, "What's with the new look Naruto… trying to look more like a shinobi should."

"Hey, I always looked like a shinobi and any clothes I wear I'll always look like an awesome shinobi", Naruto retaliated with an annoyed look… but the others could see the joking tone behind the words of the two.

"Troublesome blonde", replied Shikamaru off-handedly… but the others could see the small smile on his face.

"Lazy-ass", commented Naruto with a small chuckle.

And with that the awkwardness in the atmosphere was released.

"Though I am surprised… Ino you didn't tell me that there were so many waiting for me to wake up", Naruto said… he was really surprised by that.

"What are you surprised about Naruto, this is nothing compared to the people that would like to meet you", Ino replied in a proud tone something that caught the attention of a few… this surprised Naruto greatly.

"She is speaking the truth, you should know that Blondie… you are a Hero now", said Anko with a big grin on her face.

"The entire of Konoha wants to get a chance to meet you", added Kurenai.

"Yeah, you should have seen how the people had gathered to get a glance of you yesterday. It was really hard to keep them away from the tent", added Tenten.

"T-They… W-We all think of you as a he-hero, Na-Naruto-kun", said Hinata.

By the end of it Naruto's friend had turned crimson as he was not accustomed to being praised… meanwhile the males in the room were having a good laugh at his expanse.

"I-I see…" Naruto stuttered in response.

"That aside… Now sit still and let me check on your health", Shizune ordered as her hands flipped through hand seals for a diagnostic jutsu.

"What…? But Ino said I am completely fine…" Naruto whined… he never liked being a patient.

"I know, I just want to do a recheck", said Shizune leaving no room for response as she glared at the blonde.

That glared stopped any sentence forming in his mouth and he did as he was instructed as that glare was something that only Shizune was capable of, 'Medic-Glare' he had named it, something even Tsunade couldn't do as to make him behave like a good patient.

"Well it seems like you completely healthy as Ino had said", said Shizune after she had finished with diagnosing him for any injuries or so.

"Was that even necessary?" Naruto muttered and luckily for him Shizune didn't hear him.

Finally that the group had settled down whit Shikaku staying at the back of the room looking through the files those were set around the room.

"So… what was the meeting all about? It seemed to be going for hours", asked Kiba.

"We were waiting for three hours outside", added Sakura… the waiting had really annoyed her.

"Oh… Well… That was…" Naruto tried to answer but just couldn't find a right way to put his situation into words.

But luckily for him Shikaku was there for him as the Jōnin Commander spoke, "As it was, with the condition that Tsunade-sama is and as per the decree of Daimyō-sama… I, the ANBU Commander and the Konoha Council members were here to discuss the current state of Konoha and its policies for moving ahead with Hokage-sama."

By the end of Shikaku's word every eye in the room widened, even of those that had come to the conclusion while they waited outside…

"Shikaku-san I thought I wasn't the Hokage as of yet. The jōnins have yet to cast their support for me and so I am still the Rokudaime Hokage Kōho (Sixth Hokage Candidate)", stated Naruto… he rather had things cleared.

"Yes, Yes…" Shikaku replied offhandedly and went onto his work with the files.

By now those who had not connected the dots and also those who had connected the dots, all had their jaws hanging wide open; Naruto had outright confirmed their thoughts.

"Na-Naru-Naruto…" the words barely left the mouth of Sakura as she was completely dumbfounded by the recent news.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" the blonde in question asked… but a look of confusion formed on his face as he found Sakura continuously open and close her mouth but no words leaving her lips… turning around he found most in somewhat similar state.

"They are taken by surprise at your appointment as the Rokudaime and seemed to have lost their ability to speech", answered Kakashi as he found his students and now his superiors questioning gaze on him.

"What can I say, I am just that awesome. I always have such an effect on people, -ttebayo!" the Rokudaime replied with a foxy grin on his face… to which the others couldn't help but smile, it seemed like the sudden promotion hadn't gone to the head of the knucklehead ninja.

But before their conversation could go any further, an ANBU with a boar mask appeared in front of Naruto. But before the ANBU spoke, the others were made to leave the room by Shikaku with the exception of Kakashi.

"Hokage-sama, there is a team from Kumo that wishes an audience with you – the Hokage to deliver a letter from the Raikage", said the ANBU.

"I'll meet them in fifteen minutes", replied Naruto… he didn't know what the Raikage wanted from Konoha, but he was going to give the Kumo-nin an audience.

"Also a scroll just arrived demanding an emergency meeting of the five Kages by the Raikage", said the ANBU.

This garnered the attention of Shikaku and Kakashi, calling for the meeting of the five Kage was not done unless there was a something really important that was to be discussed for the future of the Elemental nations. And for it to be done by the Raikage who had also sent a team here to meet the Hokage, something big had happened in Kumo.

Passing around the scroll they found the reason behind the sudden call for an emergency meeting of the five Kages – Akatsuki, a group of S-rank missing-nins that roamed around the Elemental Nations first as a mercenary group and then as terrorists with goal to capture the Jinchūriki and extract the Bijū they held. Finally it seemed that countries other than Suna and Konoha were going to take action against Akatsuki. Though it still didn't answer the question as to why as till now no one had shown any active participation in the search or elimination of Akatsuki nor had anyone responded to the warning letters of Tsunade about Akatsuki. Hopefully that question would be answered by the team from Kumo asking an audience of the Hokage.

* * *

A lot was going through the mind of the blonde, curvaceous kunoichi since she arrived at Konoha; no a thousand questions had come to her mind since she had left Kumo for her mission. It was hard to think that the members of Akatsuki had the gall to attack their village directly to search for Kirābī. No one had anticipated that, especially after they had captured Nii Yugito while she was on a mission and she never thought a group like Akatsuki would ever take such drastic step.

But arriving at Konoha all her presumptions of Akatsuki were all balled down by a snowstorm. Konoha was _literally_ destroyed by the recent Akatsuki attack just yesterday, and even than the word literally didn't give justice to the destruction around. And to think that this was all done by a single man made her understand the gravity of the situation, of the threat Akatsuki possessed.

The other thing that surprised her were the casualties of the shinobi and civilians of Konoha, there were civilians and shinobis injured from small, minor wounds to some really large, major wounds and a few with life threatening wounds, but albeit all the injuries there seemed to be no one dead around. It boggled her mind, an attack of this scale would certainly result in a loss of many lives, but somehow it didn't and by what she heard half of that was thanks to the Godaime Hokage Senju Tsunade and her summon Katsuyu, and the other half was because of Uzumaki Naruto.

But that was not the only thing that surprised her, as to from what she heard from the civilians and shinobi all saying, the Akatsuki member that attacked Konoha, the man that was singlehandedly responsible for all the destruction, the leader of Akatsuki, the bearer of the fabled Rinnegan, had been defeated by a single Konoha ninja, by their hero Uzumaki Naruto.

She had heard of Uzumaki Naruto before; it was stupid to not know of a shinobi who was an apprentice of Jiraiya of the Sannin, the man who thought the Yondaime Hokage, and was also on the genin team led by Sharingan no Kakashi. A hero to not one but many small nations and clans, be it shinobi or not, and as per Kumo's intelligence was very close with the Godaime Hokage and even the Godaime Kazekage and was also known to be the only shinobi to have won against the Godaime Kazekage in an all out fight, and also possibly the last living member of the renowned and most feared Uzumaki Clan of Uzushiogakure.

Now here in the makeshift Hokage Office waiting for the Hokage to arrive, her mind pondered on the possibility of the Rokudaime. The invasion of Konoha may have been successfully warded off with very less casualties because of the works of Senju Tsunade, her summon Katsuyu and Uzumaki Naruto, but there was still one major casualty, the Godaime Hokage herself. Currently Senju Tsunade was in a comatose state from the pressure she had exerted on herself saving the life of hundreds and thousands of people of Konoha and with her current condition a new Hokage was appointed… something she was certain that no one from Kumo would have expected.

She just wished that the new Hokage wouldn't complicate the situation. Already her teammates were giving her a headache; she could see the fumes releasing of Karui and the words of the worrywart Omoi was already ticking her nerves, but she could understand their situation, after all they had trained under Kirābī.

Her musings were cut short as door of the makeshift Hokage office slid open and in walked three Konoha-nins. It took only a single glance for her to recognize two of those three ninjas as those two were renowned throughout the Elemental Nations for their skills: the masked-nin with spiky, white hair was Hatake Kakashi, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi and Kopī Ninja no Kakashi, the man that had copied over a thousand jutsus… the other with two scars marring the right side of his face was Nara Shikaku, the member of the famed Ino-Shika-Chō Trio and the Jōnin Commander of Konoha and a shrewd strategist… though it was the third person that surprised her the most.

Dressed entirely in a black ninja outfit along with the official Hokage uniform consisting of the customary hat and the cloak… had spiky, blonde hair, calm and piercing bright, blue eyes and fair skin along with three whisker-like marks adorning both his cheeks… looked no older that sixteen-eighteen… the facial description matched of the shinobi she was thinking about before the entry of the three Konoha-nin… the hero of Konoha and of many small countries, Uzumaki Naruto… though the lack of orange did make her to wonder whether her assumptions were right or not as Uzumaki Naruto was known for his fixation of the color orange… but there was no denying it that was Uzumaki Naruto wearing the Hokage's garb… she couldn't help as a look of shock and surprised crossed across her face, though she quickly schooled her features.

Her teammates were also in a state of shock and surprise as it was evident by their faces. Omoi had his eyes widened while the lollipop was hanging loosely in his half open mouth, while Karui had an expression similar to a gaping fish out of water, though Samui was certain that neither recognized the one in the Hokage's garb, but it still was a shocking surprise to find someone around their age as a Kage, even if they had the Kazekage for the example.

Luckily for her both were quick to school their features to neutral, but by the mischievous glint in those blue orb of the eyes of the Hokage it seemed like he didn't miss any of their reactions. His eyes was something that really intrigued her, there within those two mischievous orbs she could feel a myriad of emotions flowing and even one as good as her at reading people and their emotions, she couldn't read the boy, no, young man in front of her… but above all his eyes excluded a calmness that made her feel at peace which was something completely new. Then there was his presence which excluded both power and calm at the same time, something completely contradictory and only could be found in old veteran shinobis.

When she had first learned of the information gathered on Uzumaki Naruto she hadn't believed it. She couldn't believe that there existed a shinobi like him in the shinobi world even when all the information was from reliable sources, but now standing here she couldn't help but believe all she had read about him and if all of it was really true than Uzumaki Naruto was an enigma born in the shinobi world.

* * *

For the second time of the day he was happy that Sakura was nowhere close by him as his perverted side came to life – first with Ino and now seeing the blonde Kumo-nin. The blonde Kumo-nin had a very curvaceous figure along with large busts and the low-cut outfit with mesh underneath showed a sizable bit of her cleavage; he doubted that any kunoichi from Konoha could match her bust-size except for Tsunade, who certainly had a larger bust than the blonde.

Luckily trough being around Sakura and Tsunade-baa-chan he had learned to hide his perverted nature and so he kept a neutral expression as his eyes had laid on the blonde Kumo-nin, and it seemed to be really helpful as he had a flickering thought that the blonde might not like perverts like him.

Taking his place and seating in the chair reserved for the Hokage did it finally penetrated his mind that he truly was the Hokage… at least for now. His dream had been half achieved, though he knew he wasn't ready to really become the Hokage for the coming few years, but now Konoha needed him and he was going to stand up for the responsibility until Tsunade recovered from her comatose state. But that still didn't stop the elated feeling that rushed within him.

"So, what brings Kumo-nin to Konoha?" asked Naruto as he kept a calm look on his face.

"We are here to deliver a letter for Raikage-sama", said Samui has she handed the letter to him.

"It's urgent!" she cleared after handing the letter to him to which he just nodded.

The tone of the blonde Kumo-nin alerted him of the importance of the letter. For some reason he had a bad feeling that it had something to do with Akatsuki; and the letter demanding an emergency meeting of the five Kages and now the arrival of the Kumo-nins with an important letter from the Raikage solidified his idea that he was on the right track.

With each paragraph, each sentence and each word he read, anger started to boil within him and it was getting really hard to control the fox trying to gain control of him trough his anger, and by the time he had finished reading the letter a grim expression had marred his face.

* * *

There were many times he had seen Naruto lose control and let his emotions run rampart for him even though he was probably one of the most emotional shinobi he had come across in his life, but even than there had only been two instances where he had seen Naruto this angry: first was during the preliminary round of the Chūnin Selection Exam and it was directed towards Neji for what he did to Hinata, and the other time after watching the death body of Gaara when they had gone on the mission to rescue the Kazekage from Akatsuki. He had also heard of him losing control during his fight with Orochimaru from Tenzō and recently heard of the explosion of anger that Naruto had shown after seeing Hinata almost die defending him. Of the four times Naruto had lost control to the Kyūbi three times where the first two time they had been able to suppress the fox's chakra, with him using the chakra suppressing seal handed to him by Jiraiya the first time while Yamato used his Mokuton ninjutsu to suppress the fox's chakra, though Yamato only suppressed it after a large scale destruction was done by the four-tailed Naruto. But the last time he heard that Naruto had gone up to eight tails and almost released the Kyūbi… how he regained control of himself was still a mystery to most… and from what he was told; the seal he and Yamato had placed for such situations was already destroyed by the six-tailed Naruto.

And so feeling the amount of anger releasing of Naruto, he readied himself for any possible situation, but the killing intent that Naruto was releasing coupled with his anger was so thick that it was really hard to move. He was certain that the blonde was unconsciously taping into the Yōko's hatred.

He wasn't the only one that could fell the killing intent the blonde radiated coupled with anger, the others in the room along with the hidden ANBU guards could also feel it. He could see the fear etched on the faces of the two chūnins of Kumo and also a fleeting sense of dread pass through their leader's face for a second.

But before anything could happen, all the killer intent suddenly disappeared along with the heavy dose of hatred; replaced by a grim look on the face of Naruto. Something big had happen for such a grim look to cross Naruto's face and for the second time in his life he saw a shadow of Minato-sensei over Naruto.

"Naruto…" he tried to ask the blonde as to what had forced such a grim look cross the face of his blonde student… but before he could ask anything, Naruto passed the letter to him.

For the first time since Naruto started reading the letter did he get a glimpse of his eyes which had been hidden by his eyes as he had his hitai-te wrapped around his left wrist. What he saw in those eyes made him recoil with shock; anger and betrayal was prominent in those bright blue orbs, never had he seen this much anger in the blonde's eyes.

Reading the letter did he come to realize the source of Naruto's anger. Even he was barely able to control himself; to think that his wayward student had joined Akatsuki and had aided the group in the capture of the Jinchūriki of the Hachibi…

It seemed that finally the time had come to put down his wayward student.

* * *

"Raikage-sama needs an answer immediately", said Samui… it really took a lot out of her to say that after the outburst of killing intent from the Hokage.

Unknown to Samui, her simply asking the Hokage what was meant to be asked had made increased their respect of her. The Hokage despite being young was truly terrifying according to both of them.

Thinking over for a couple of seconds did Naruto answer, "I will relay my answer directly to the Raikage when I meet him at the Gokage Kaidan (Five Kage Summit)."

By Naruto's side, Kakashi and Shikaku were both happy with his decision. On plain sight it was a simple decision of declaring Sasuke as a missing-nin with a kill/capture at sight order… but a lot was going to ride on this decision and so it was wise to not make it in haste.

"I-I see" responded Samui… even though she had been ordered to get an immediate response, she thought it wise to not provoke the Hokage any further.

But it looked like Karui couldn't see through the wise decision of Samui as she blasted in anger, "What do you mean you will relay your answer to Raikage-sama? That is our duty. Raikage-sama asked us to get an answer from you. And it was because of the leniency of Konohagakure towards Uchiha Sasuke did it come to this. The Uchiha attacked our village and took away our master. We don't even know whether our master is alive or not. All because of the Uchiha… and for that reason Raikage-sama has sent us here to know more about the styles and techniques of the Uchiha and everything Konoha has learned of Akatsuki and gain your permission to hunt down the Uchiha… and then we will have our revenge, we will destroy the Uchiha."

"And then what?" asked Naruto in a calm voice surprising the Kumo-nins.

"What do you mean by 'and then what?'", asked Karui as her anger flared more.

Neither Omoi nor Samui liked the situation they were in. Both were well aware of the anger of their red head teammate, but this certainly wasn't the place for her to showcase her anger, especially in front of the Hokage who had enough power to obliterate them all.

"As I asked before... What next? What after you hunt down and succeed in killing the Uchiha? Will it bring you back your master? Or will it even fill the gap that has formed due to the loss of your master?" asked Naruto.

It was so minuscule that it was almost hard to see, but both Kakashi and Shikaku could understand the emotions of the blonde and in a way connect to it. Meanwhile the Kumo-nins could feel that there was more to the words of the Hokage than either of them could interpret something akin which could only come from experience.

But Karui in her hotheadedness completely miss the hidden message behind the words as she spoke up with her anger clearly reflecting in her words, "So what? You want us to give up on the Uchiha. To pardon him-"

But she stopped in mid-sentence as Naruto interrupted and continued, "No. Uchiha Sasuke will be condemned for his crimes. But more importantly… do you really think so low of your master…" this got the attention of all.

"What do you mean Hokage-sama?" it was Omoi who asked respectfully.

"I am the student of Jiraiya of the Sannin, the shinobi well known for his information gathering skills and so it was simple for me to come across the information on noteworthy shinobis he had collected. One of them was Kirābī, the Jinchūriki of the Hachibi no Kyogyū… a well renowned shinobi, especially for him being renowned to have full control over the Hachibi", answered Naruto.

The implication of what Naruto intended to say struck like a hammer to the ninjas of Kumo; was it true that they had called early quits on the search of Kirābī-sama.

"And one more thing…" Naruto spoke up garnering the attention of the three especially that of Karui as his cold-steel blue eyes were now focused on her as he continued in a cheerful voice sending chills down her spine "… I am the Rokudaime Hokage; I think that at least deserves respect, if not for me but the least for the title of the Hokage."

"H-Hai", Karui couldn't help but stutter.

* * *

The small meeting with the Kumo-nins had gone better that Shikaku had expected, and Naruto for all purpose looked and acted like a Hokage. He had his doubts when he had nominated him as the boy had tendencies to his eccentrics, but he was a way better option than…

But his thought process was cut short as the door of the tent slid open and in walked the very man he was thinking of, Shimura Danzō.

"Shimura Danzō", Naruto called out as he watched the man enter the tent without warning…

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"I learned of a delegation from Kumo was here to meet the _Hokage_, and are currently in the village at the archive library", answered Danzō as his eye locked on with the blonde that was unbridled with anger… he had lost the Hokage seat to a brat, after all.

Meanwhile at the sides both Kakashi and Shikaku stiffened, it was clear Danzō was keeping his eyes open at the happening around Naruto.

"I must applause of your learning", Naruto replied with a small smile on his face which seemed to further frustrate the man.

"Don't try to be cheeky with me boy", Danzō growled.

"I am not being cheeky with you Danzō; I am merely applauding you for your information gathering skills…" Naruto said with the same calmness as before "… and yes a delegation of Kumo is here in Konoha and they wanted an audience with the _Hokage_… and they got an audience from _me_, the Rokudaime Hokage."

This infuriated Danzō further as he spoke his tone dripping with an ounce of venom, "the _Rokudaime Hokage Kōho (Sixth Hokage Candidate)_ that is indeed what you are."

Both Kakashi and Shikaku could feel the tension in the room, the look on Danzō's face clearly showed his anger while Naruto just looked at him with a smile.

"And what are they doing at the archive library?" Danzō asked; the boy was seriously getting on his nerves.

"I can assure you Danzō that the Kumo delegation being at the archive library is perfectly authorized, after all it was me – the Hokage that authorized it… and it is perfectly guarded visit", answered Naruto.

"And what is that they are here for?" asked Danzō getting more irritated.

This time the smile on Naruto's face vanished and a serious look now adorned it, "they were here with a message from the Raikage to the Hokage, to me… and I received the message. I don't see how it concerns you Shimura Danzō."

That was the high point, both Shikaku and Kakashi knew and so were ready to move in action if necessary. Unknown to both, Danzō and Naruto had already made their moves.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was not liking the situation, try he might he had failed to hurt the masked man again as he just moved through him with his attack, the man that was stopping continuing his quest for revenge. It also didn't bide good with him that the Hachibi had pulled one over him, had fooled his Sharingan.

But it was his word just now seemed to have shocked him… Konohagakure no longer exists… what did he mean by that?

And that is where Zetsu came in, to explain the words of the masked Madara.

"So… who's the new Hokage?" asked the masked Madara.

This caught the attention of Sasuke, had something happened to the Godaime. Did it have something to do with the masked Madara mentioning of the destruction of Konoha?

"Uzumaki Naruto!" answered Zetsu.

This stunned all, especially Sasuke… Naruto, the Hokage.

"Now that is completely unexpected", masked Madara said shattering the silence.

* * *

Naruto found himself into his sub-consciousness, an empty white space with only a red moon with a black pinwheel-like fan design at the centre glowing brightly.

The moon was calling to him, compelling him to its will, trying to fight to gain control of his mind and his consciousness.

His sub-consciousness was fighting it, but it was getting more and more with passing second.

And then it happened… he watched a crow fly around in the empty white space of his sub-consciousness and then it dived directly at him and then into him.

It was then it happened as he felt his chakra move towards his left eye, and unknown to him the color of his left eye changed from blue to red with a black pinwheel-like fan design… similar to the Mangekyō projected on the moon.

Cracks and ridges started to appear on the moon as more and more of his chakra was being pumped into his left eye, and then after what felt like eternity the moon cracked into tiny pieces which vanished from his sub-consciousness.

* * *

Danzō's single eye widened and his right eye behind the bandage started bleeding as he felt Naruto break through **Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods)**, something that shouldn't be possible as he had put his all into it. But it was then that it he noticed that it wasn't just his right eye that was bleeding, but also the left eye of Naruto was bleeding too and he was certain that for a second he had seen his eyes change and take form similar to that of the **Mangekyō Sharingan** of Uchiha Shisui.

'How does the boy posses _that_ _eye_?' Danzō thought… but any further ideas coming to his mind were halted as Naruto was on him with a **Ōdama Rasengan (Big Ball Spiraling Sphere)**.

* * *

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

The sound of explosion once again rocked Konoha sending fear course through that of the civilian and shinobi alike, though the shinobi were already on their guard. All around Konoha Jōnin and ANBU were already on the move as they started subduing shinobis wearing ANBU-like masks and black cloaks.

"What the hell is going on?" Sakura called out as she watched all around her jōnin and ANBU in action.

The same question was going through the minds of the members of Konoha 11 (minus Naruto) gathered along with Sai, but one had already come to a conclusion which he rather did not like.

"Aren't the ones that the jōnins and ANBU are subduing…?" Shikamaru let his question hanging as his eyes shifted to Sai.

"Yes, those are Ne (Root) operatives", Sai answered wondering what had made them make a move… though the eyes of the others had widened dramatically.

But any further questions or thoughts were halted as a couple of ANBUs dropped by next to Sai quickly subduing the emotionless artist while another ANBU dropped by halting any attack from the Konoha 11 to help Sai.

"Why the hell are you targeting Sai?" Sakura roared at the ANBU.

"Orders to restrain any and all members of the Foundation… and if unable to subdue to kill them", the ANBU answered.

"What!?" Sakura asked in surprise… but before she could make a move she was stopped in her tracks by Shikamaru's **Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique)**.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked.

"Shikaku's son… Shimura Danzō made a move on Hokage-sama", the ANBU answered causing the eyes of the group to widen.

'Danzō-sa… Danzō, what do you intend to do attacking Naruto?' Sai thought.

Not thinking much some of them rushed towards the location of the blast while a few remained behind as their eyes turned towards Sai.

"Unless and until Sai decides to retaliate he has nothing to fear", the ANBU answered seeing the looks of the remainder of the group.

* * *

In the middle of the crater created by Pein's **Shinra Tensei (Heavenly Subjugation of the Omnipresent God)** and a small crater created within it by Naruto's **Ōdama Rasengan (Big Ball Spiraling Sphere)** stood Naruto and Danzō facing each other while two Ne operatives lay dead between the two and three were being subdued by Kakashi and Shikaku.

Danzō warily eyed the blonde that now stood in front of him; no longer did the blonde seem like the noisy genin he had seen around, but rather the blonde now towered like a Hokage should… this itself made him nervous. Then there was the matter of the Sharingan; not only had the blonde broken through **Kotoamatsukami**, he was also certain that he had for a split of second seen the reason behind it… the Mangekyō Sharingan of Uchiha Shisui glaring back at him from the left eye socket of the blonde.

It was only his luck that two of his underlings had been able to intercept the **Ōdama Rasengan **as he had been too stunned to react seeing the eye that he most desired. But now it was his chance to acquire the other eye of Shisui, and with it there would be no one to stop him.

"You have something that I direly want Uzumaki… but it makes me wonder where you got your hands on something so priceless", Danzō spoke up.

It didn't take Naruto to be a genius to figure what Danzō meant as he felt it while he broke through that illusionary jutsu, and it also helped that at the same time a memory flashed through his mind, a memory of Uchiha Shisui handing his left eye to Itachi.

"Makes one wonder… though doesn't that same question apply to you too Danzō", Naruto replied back… even though he held a façade of calm on the outside, on the inside he was seething with anger.

"That does not matter now, I'll have what I should have obtained years ago", Danzō said and went onto remove the bandages and a gauntlet-like seal of his right arm.

The sight of about ten **Sharingan** on the right – probably artificial – arm of Danzō made Naruto's anger flare, even if all he had heard of the Uchiha clan intended to do before their massacre, the very thought that this man had possibly defiled the graves and the life of the Uchiha… it did not go well with him.

Taking the momentary distraction of Naruto as his chance, Danzō's hands flipped through three seals for a special jutsu that he wished not to use in such circumstances, but he had no choice seeing that there would be some time before he could make use of the **Mangekyō** **Sharingan** in his right eye, though there was a question that whether the jutsu would work for the second time or not. And with the jutsu activated he moved to attack the blonde with speed that no one would anticipate from an old and handicapped shinobi.

But to eternal surprise of Danzō, Naruto moved even faster than he had anticipated as he dodged his punch from the artificial limb and then drilled a **Rasengan** through him from above him.

* * *

BOOOOMMMMM!

It was another blast that rocked Konoha, but this time around the Konoha 11 were present close to the sight of the blast. It was not just them, many other shinobis had gathered around too. It was being here that did they see the gravity of the situation as all around Konoha ANBU were restraining the members of the foundation, while some stayed dead at their feet.

When they had arrived they had found Danzō rushing forward to attack Naruto with what could be only described as an artificial limb. And then when Danzō was just inches away from Naruto, he moved faster than any had expected and drilled a **Rasengan** through the aged man.

And that is what had them all confused, for they had witnessed the **Rasengan** drill through the back of Danzō, and the old war-hawk's body drilled through the ground, possibly dead. But this was where the confusion began, for one moment Danzō was splashed in the crater created by the **Rasengan** and the next he stood a few feet away from Naruto completely unharmed.

'What did just happen? Was that a genjutsu?' was the thought running through most of their minds.

And so to confirm it, both Hinata and Neji had their **Byakugan** active.

* * *

Naruto silently eyed the man that now stood a few feet away from him, the one who just seconds ago was drilled in the ground beneath him by the **Rasengan**.

The Danzō he had hit was certainly no genjutsu; even if genjutsu was never his strongest suit, he was capable of identifying a genjutsu cast over him, even by the likes of Uchiha Itachi.

So the current sight of Danzō did not make sense to him, for he had not sensed the man move from beneath him, nor did he think that the man used some sort of Jikūkan (Space-Time) Ninjutsu, for Danzō stood there completely unharmed. And apart from a minor change, nothing seemed to have changed with the man and for some reason he had an off-thought that it had something to do with the hand-seals he performed before charging at him.

Normally he would have so many questions, so many things he would want to learn… but he had heard enough about Danzō, the Shinobi no Yami enough to know that the man could not be reason with nor was he someone that could be left alive.

"_You_", the very word that left his mouth as steeled eyes locked on to Danzō was filled with pure disgust and hatred seeped in him that he never thought he was capable of.

As if understanding what was going through his mind Danzō spoke up, "The ninja world is an ascetic world. To remain anonymous is a source of pride. But by controlling both the surface and underground, one can truly strengthen the village and nation. A naïve boy as you would never understand the meaning of being a true ninja. A shinobi's life is of sacrifice. For the sake of Konoha, such sacrifices should be made." And with that he held up his right arm to make his point.

"Me, a naïve boy… Sacrifices…" those words rolled of Naruto's mouth as his hands flipped through a few hand-seals…

"**Fūton: Tenran (Wind Release:** **Orchid Sky)!**" he said as he pointed his right palm at Danzō which was shimmering with wind and made a single slashing motion.

From the hand shot forward a powerful gust of wind at Danzō, who did not have the time to react as the gust of wind moved at very high speed and was within a second was caught in it and had his body carved in by hundreds of wind blades.

* * *

This was not how Danzō expected the things to go, for within a span of minute the boy had already killed him twice and if not for **Izanagi** he would have really died.

His single dark eye glared furiously at the blonde as he tried to get his facts right about him. He had known the boy had grown in skills after training with the Toads, and learning the Sage Arts from them had made him a deadly opponent, but nothing had made him anticipate that sort of speed or jutsu prowess.

It did not make sense, for as per his intelligence the only jutsus the boy was capable of the Kage Bunshin, Rasengan and its variant, the Kuchiyose and the Sage Mode. Nothing pointed out of him capable of Fūton ninjutsu other than the Rasengan variants, but yet he used one, a very powerful and a deadly one at that.

But that didn't matter right now, what mattered now was him gaining control over the boy, the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko and currently the hero of the village. He had taken his chance, and had failed and with most of his Ne (Root) members incapacitated, some restrained and a few killed he needed to go on with his plan to gain control over the boy. His best bet now was the combined use of Shisui's eye and Hashirama's Mokuton. But he needed some time for the eye to become active again, for him to use it at its full capacity. For unlike the artificial hand constructed by the cells of Hashirama giving him the ability to use Mokuton, he had far greater control on the use of the eye.

He had already made plans, in the unlikely event of the Kotoamatsukami being countered, but with the quick moments of the ANBU and the jōnins many of his plans were foiled. It left him with a single plan, but a one which he banked the most on.

"Yes, a naïve boy like you would never understand what it truly takes to become a Kage. The sacrifices that are made", he said all the while as his hands flipped through hand-seals. Holding the Inu (Dog) hand-seal he took a deep breath…

"**Fūton: Shinkūgyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)!**" he whispered as he exhaled several small blasts of wind chakra in such a manner that they are dispersed over an expansive range.

The speed and the expansive range of those small blasts of wind made it very difficult to avoid, but it seemed like the boy had taken it as a task to surprise him as he watched him flip through seals and then expel water from his mouth in a dense, curved torrent, effectively creating a near-instantaneous circular barricade that intercepted the incoming torrent of his small wind blasts.

Again he was surprised, for not only did the boy use of a Suiton ninjutsu, but a powerful defensive Suiton ninjutsu, **Suiton: Suijinchū (Water Release: Water Encampment Pillar)**, a jutsu that required a high quality control over the nature transformation of one's chakra into that of the element of water.

And yet again his information on the boy had failed him.

But he decided to think on that later, he had more pressing matters at his hands as he watched as the boy had his hands clapped together and the water around him started to form a circular torrent in front of his hand.

His single eye widened as he recognized that jutsu, something that was last seen to be used by Uzumaki Kushina, and was one of the infamous Hijutsu (Secret Technique) of the Uzumaki Clan.

**Suiton Hijutsu: Suiteikiatsu (Water Release Secret Technique: Water Cyclone)**.

And just as he thought, it was that very jutsu as the boy by thrusting both his hands at him forced the destructive cyclone of water at him. And so he embraced for the pain, and pain came as the torrent of water hit him and forced him backwards. Each and every part of his body ached as the high pressure and the force of torrent continued to torment his body and force him backwards.

And again his idea of using the Izanagi against the boy proved worthwhile as before he could be caught in the jutsus true destructive nature he used Izanagi to escape it.

Materializing close by, he rushed at the boy wishing to not give him more chance to unleash something more destructive as his hands flipped through hand-seals for a destructive jutsu of his own.

But before he could even complete his hand-seals, the boy was onto him with a larger variant of the Rasengan, the **Ōdama** **Rasengan**. He did not have the power to even move after the impact of the torrent of water hit him, so he just silently took on another deadly jutsu.

* * *

BOOOOMMMMM!

"Wow!" was the only word the left the mouth of Kiba as he watched on the fight from far in awe. A sentiment that was shared by all those that still remain present at the sight and watched from afar.

Most of the civilians around the area had already been evacuated by the ANBU and all of the Ne (Root) members either restrained or incapacitated, the only that remained around were shinobi of rank chūnin and above. And even then all were asked to not only not to interfere in the fight, but also to stay at a safe distance by Hatake Kakashi and Nara Shikaku. A decision few decided to object, but were silenced when reminded that this was the fight of the Hokage.

"But what's with Danzō? Is it a genjutsu?" Shikamaru wondered out loud as his mind tried to decipher the situation.

"No, a possibility of a genjutsu is very little as there is no fluctuation in Naruto-kun's chakra and ours' are stable too… none of us are caught in a genjutsu", Hinata spoke up as a Byakugan continued to analyze the situation. Being the student of Yūhi Kurenai she had an inept understanding of genjutsu, even if she was not the genjutsu type, and the Byakugan helped more by helping to analyze a person's chakra network.

Even Kakashi himself was amazed, the growth that his student showed was simply amazing. He had heard of how Naruto had went on toe to toe with all the six paths of Pein, and now he understood why. The training with the Toads and in the art of Senjutsu had elevated Naruto to a new level in both skills and chakra. He had till now used five jutsus of A-rank and above and all of them required high levels of chakra as he saw through his Sharingan.

But all that brought a surprising question forth, to where had Naruto learned to use elemental ninjutsus of that level. Not even in his fight with Pein had he used them indicating that it wasn't something he learned from the Toads. So where? Well, Kakashi could wait for the answers and for the time being time to decipher whatever the jutsu Danzō seemed to be using. Hinata was certainly right.

"NARUTO-KUN, BEHIND YOU!" Hinata shouted as she watched Danzō materialize behind him.

* * *

"NARUTO-KUN, BEHIND YOU!"

The scream of Hinata alerted Naruto as he barely dodged a shuriken with wind-infused chakra, still it was able to glance his left hand and live behind a shallow cut. He could not give much thought to the cut of his left hand as two more shurikens made his way towards him and was forced to dodge them.

Looking back at the trajectory of those shurikens, he felt the idea of dodging instead of parrying or blocking since they had carved through rocks. Oh, and also he had to experiment on the shuriken application of wind-infused chakra as that was some deadly and awesome skill to have under the belt.

But he did not have time to rest as he watched Danzō's hands flip through another set of hand-seals and him taking another deep breath and while spinning exhaled a compressed, solitary blade of wind, the **Fūton: Shinkūha (Wind Release: Vacuum Wave)**.

Forming a unique hand-seal as he blew water from his mouth to the ground below him which raised upwards with tremendous force to form a sturdy wall of water around him.

The **Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)** was sturdy enough to intercept the incoming compressed, solitary blade of wind with ease.

Wasting no further time, he formed another unique hand-seal and the water around him and the one on the ground courtesy of his previous jutsu rose to form giant, powerful dragon which rushed towards Danzō.

Danzō countered the **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)** with **Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku**, the two jutsus canceling each other.

His eyes caught the sight of Danzō breathing wind-infused chakra into kunai which formed into a shape of an odd sword and then the man rushed at him. He did not know of what tactic was the man trying to imply by a head on charge, something he did not except from a man of Danzō's status, making it wonder whether it had to do something with the jutsu he used that completely nullified his attacks on Danzō.

Deciding to take this opportunity to get a closer look at something that had been ticking him since the start of the fight, he decided to give the head-on clash a go.

His right outstretched hand was shrouded by a thick layer of wind chakra – chakra so dense that it was visible – with more the concentration being greater at the four outstretched fingers. The intensity and insanity of the jutsu could be felt as the winds howled and danced around him as he dashed at Danzō at high speed.

And the two collided in middle…

Danzō's **Fūton: Shinkūjin (Wind Release: Vacuum Blade)** infused kunai pierced him, while his **Reppūzuki (Gale Thrust)** pierced Danzō, splashing both with the blood of the other.

* * *

"Naruto-kun!"

The words left the lips of Hinata, Ino and Hotaru as they looked worried at the sight of both Danzō and Naruto piercing each other.

Others were worried too, to see their hero, their friend, their comrade and now the Hokage being pierced. But it soon turned to relieve as unlike Naruto's jutsu that had pierced the heart of Danzō, Danzō's jutsu had pierced the left shoulder of Naruto and not his heart.

"Isn't the jutsu Naruto used similar to your Chidori, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked… Naruto's skills had her shell-shocked.

"No, it is more akin to my Raikiri", Kakashi replied to the shock of all.

'And not only is it similar to Raikiri in application, but the chakra shrouding the hand of Naruto is more dense and the concentration of the chakra at the fingertips increases the thrusting power of the jutsu. And there is the wind that surround him, I don't think that is just a side-effect of the compressed wind-chakra. Also, if somehow one were to avoid the high speed thrust, they won't be able to counteract as they would be caught in the aftereffect of the jutsu which happens when such dense wind chakra is pressurized at a single point…I don't what to know what exactly happens to the one pierced from the inside' though Kakashi as his eyes laid on Danzō.

Kakashi's last point was proven by the fact that when Naruto made a final thrust, the force of the strike was great enough to produce a powerful shock wave that caused noticeable wide fissures in the direction of his thrust. As for the human body, the effects were clearly seen on Danzō as blood seeped out of the man's eyes, mouth and the various tears and cuts that had appeared all across his body... truly a deadly jutsu.

'This ninjutsu battle is so advanced, it's incredible. At first I had doubts on Naruto-sama's strength without the Sage Mode, but witnessing his strength now… there is no doubt that Naruto-sama has the strength of a Hokage. But what is with Danzō?' thought the ANBU Commander as he watched Danzō once again materialize at a new spot completely unharmed.

* * *

"Such a deadly jutsu", Danzō commented from his spot as he zeroed his gaze on Naruto… nothing of his information had him ready for something like that. Even after using the Izanagi, he still felt the effects of the jutsu when it was thrust through him and as a shockwave rippled through his body literally destroyed his insides.

"That it is. **Reppūzuki** is a jutsu I forbid myself from ever using. But for a thrash like you, I am willing to make exceptions", the boy said as his steeled eyes glared at him as he held onto his bleeding left shoulder.

'THRASH?' his face contracted in anger, the boy had the audacity to call him scum. But he had a job to do and emotions would only be a hindrance in his objectives, and so he schooled his features.

"And this is why you will never account as a Hokage…" he said as he watched the boy charge at him and suddenly stopped in mid step as seal marks of his Juinjutsu spread around the boy's body, paralyzing and freezing him in his spot.

He couldn't help as a victorious smirk graced his lips as he continued speaking, "… for you see the world as light and dark, you who have never ventured to the darkness of the shinobi world, and you who would never learn the meaning of sacrifice."

He could see the impact his words had made on the boy through his eyes which had hardened further. His eyes then shifted in the direction of the shinobi gathered around, and as expected some seemed to jump into save their friend and the hero, but some of the Shikaku and Kakashi stopped them again. According to them this was the fight of the Hokage, and they wished for all to have trust in the boy – their Hokage - and so no one was to interfere.

It was completely foolish of them, but it suited him well and he wasn't going to let this opportunity to go to waste.

Forming the Hitsuji (Ram) hand-seal he released the Izanagi to preserve the chakra for the important task and to preserve the Sharingan on his arm, the boy had already got five of them.

"You are not worthy of that title", he shouted before charging the boy with a kunai.

But then he sensed, someone move to attack from his right, his blind spot. His eyes shifted to find the attacked to be the boy, or possibly the clone of the boy descending on him from the right with a Rasengan in his hand.

'I cannot dodge it! There is no time! I have no choice!' he thought as he halted in his step and brought his right hand up facing the descending boy.

A large and thick tree grew with his right artificial limb as its base in between him and the descending boy.

The **Rasengan**, the original jutsu of the Yondaime Hokage, it truly was a powerful and a deadly jutsu. Its power he once again witnessed as the thick and a resilient tree that he had created by the power of Mokuton was so easily decimated entirely when the **Rasengan** impacted the tree. And even with the tree standing tall between them and taking the full brunt of the Rasengan, he still felt its force and forced a few feet backwards.

Luckily for him, before impact the branches of the tree had impaled the blonde, dispelling him.

"Mokuton!?"

He heard the voice of the boy say and he shivered, it was filled with so much venom. His eyes turned to look at the boy the fear he felt was now clearly seen through his single uncovered eye as the features of the boy had changed.

Even though the boy's carried venom, his face showed no such indication and on the contrary it seemed completely calm. But what had fear rush through him was the seal marks of his Juinjutsu no longer held the boy paralyzed and the reddish-orange pigmentation around the boy's closed eyes. The latter one was something he did not want to happen, for being in Sage Mode the boy's prowess jumped to a completely new level.

But any further thoughts were cut short as the boy spoke up, his voice so calm that it actually had him worried…

"To block the **Rasengan** with a Mokuton, for someone who seemed not to die… no you can die."

And with that the boy charged at him, his hands rushed through the three hand-seals after punching the palm of the artificial right limb…

U (Rabbit)

I (Boar)

The boy had closed in on him, his fist cocked back and about to deliver a Senjutsu enhanced punch. He dodged it by mere inches and as the fist whizzed past him…

Hitsuji (Ram)

He finished the last hand-seal activating Izanagi, and it could not be a better time than that as even though he avoided the punch, he felt a powerful force pushing his face away with the force greater than that of Tsunade's punch. As the force rippled on his cheeks and felt his entire body being electrocuted from the attack, he couldn't help but marvel at the power of the Sage Mode, a baffling attack that could neither be seen nor felt that sent him skidding through the ground like a flat rock thrown on water.

A single punch, a punch that he had dodged was all it took for the boy in Sage Mode to kill him. It was only that he had been able to active Izanagi at the very last second was he able to survive that one.

It was no wonder that the boy had been able to defeat Nagato – the wielder of Rinnegan – and his six paths in an one-on-one fight.

Uzumaki Naruto was a shinobi to be feared.

* * *

**Been a while since I last updated; really, really long time I know but personal and professional/work related stuffs had me busy enough to not give enough to write a chapter of any of my stories… and I hate to do things in parts… it destroys the flow of my writing. So now that I have enough time on my hand, I will work on updating and rewriting my other stories as well and new ones if I do so.**

**Not much additional to say about the chapter, so enjoy.**


	3. The Rokudaime - Uzumaki Naruto!

It had been something on Naruto's mind since the moment his eyes laid on the right hand of Danzō. A simple question floated through his mind…

What was the use of those **Sharingans** on the artificial limb of Danzō?

It certainly weren't there to serve the purpose as a normal **Sharingan **would do, and so that many **Sharingans** on his arm literally made no sense to him.

But as the clash between them progressed, he failed not to notice the odd occurrence with those **Sharingans**. For each time Danzō seemed to survive a hit that should have killed him and was revived as if nothing happened, a **Sharingan** eye would close.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that whatever Danzō had going on for him had to do with the **Sharingan**, or rather a jutsu associated with the **Sharingan**. And now in Sage Mode he had the absolute proof.

The Sharingan eyes that had closed so far were not just shut close, rather those eyes had died and when he had used **Kawazu Kumite (Frog Kata)**, things finally did start to make sense. For just a second before he was about to connect with the **Kawazu Kumite** he sensed the change in Danzō's chakra, and when he did connect he sensed the very presence of the man shift out of reality, like all of it was just a dream.

It was a far-stretch, but it was the only logical explanation there was, for Danzō seemed to be wielding a genjutsu powerful enough to breach the barriers between reality and dreams, a brief control over reality, it truly was fear-inducing. Or rather it would be right to say that it was the Uchiha clan that wielded such an insane and other-worldly jutsu, it was no wonder they were so feared throughout the Elemental Nations.

But there seemed to be a cliché in the use of the jutsu, for Danzō kept a continuous eye on the eyes on his artificial limb, as if there was time-limit to the use of the jutsu.

It was already clear to him that every time the jutsu was used a **Sharingan** eye would lose its light and die down, which mean that Danzō could survive four more fatal blows. But the way Danzō acted to show that the jutsu once active will automatically make an eye lose its light in a given even if Danzō didn't wish it to be so.

A time-limit… Danzō's version seemed to have a time-limit, for a brief control over reality would end up within seconds…

Further thoughts were cut-short as he watched as the now materialized and unharmed Danzō smear some blood on the palm of his left hand and then slammed it on the ground and the all familiar sealing array appeared beneath his hand…

The **Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)**!

And summon Danzō did, and from the cloud of smoke emerged what could only be described as a gigantic elephantine chimera. The summoned is predominantly dark orange in color with the exception of its trunk, legs and the markings around its eyes. It had tiger-like limbs and bandages wrapped all around its head similar to Danzō and armor on the base of the trunk and between the eyes. Its feet are also striped; reminiscent of those of a tiger and it also has huge tusks and what looks like a beard, as well as long, sharp claws.

For some reason he had a feeling he had seen something alike as a child in pictures of books the Old Man – the Sandaime used to bring along, but for the world of it he couldn't remember it much clearly.

But the summon didn't give him the time to remember as the elephantine chimera opened its mouth and he readied himself for whatever jutsu the summon would blast at him…

* * *

'A Baku… a nightmare-eating monster' was the very thought that echoed through most that watched on.

It was unbelievable to see a beast like that, and what was more unbelievable was that the Baku was the personal summon of Danzō… it was a terrifying thought.

And then the Baku opened its mouth, but instead of blasting of some sort of jutsu at Naruto it created a powerful suction that suck in everything within a large radius, while at the same time exhaling through its trunk… just like the legend surrounding the beast.

The suction was powerful enough to tear the ground in its radius and suck it in and had forced Naruto to use chakra to remain stuck to the ground… he was using a huge amount of chakra that it was clearly visible as a shroud all around him.

It was then they noticed Danzō to have moved in the suction range of the Baku just behind Naruto, and from there expelled from his mouth a single large, crushing sphere of wind chakra.

* * *

The **Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere)** should not have hurt him as much as it did, it had impacted with far greater force than the jutsu was capable of and was able to bruise his back even when he was in Sage Mode, something that should have been impossible considering his enhanced durability in Sage Mode.

It all came down to the suction of the Baku and Danzō moving in a spot from where he could make a greater use of the powerful suction, thus the enhanced power of the **Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku **did make sense.

'Two can play the game…' he thought as winds started to swirl around both his sideward-outstretched arms, which within seconds turned into a gale.

He could sense Danzō's chakras once again build up to possibly unleash another Fūton jutsu, but he had no intention of giving the man another shot.

Pushing both his gale-infused hands in the direction of the Baku, and from his overlapped palms shot forward an earth-tearing hurricane in the direction of the gigantic elephantine chimera.

**Fūton: Hōkaitaifū Bakufū (Wind Release: Severing Hurricane Blast)** in itself was an S-rank ninjutsu, a jutsu in which the user unleashes a hurricane capable of severing anything and everything in its path with the sheer force and speed of the winds and had a very long range, but aided with the Senjutsu chakra of the Sage Mode and the suction of the Baku even a legendary summon as Baku did not stand a chance.

The howl of the Baku could be heard throughout Konoha as **Fūton: Hōkaitaifū Bakufū** made contact with him, and even with gigantic size was he hurled quite a few meters back and countless cuts marred its body as the raging winds severed him.

But he didn't stop at that as his hands formed into the hand-seal he had used over a thousand of time throughout his ninja career as the index and the middle fingers from both his hands crossed each other, for the **Fūton: Hōkaitaifū Bakufū **had only stunned Danzō for a moment and he was already on him.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" he whispered as three clones materialized by his side, two rushing towards the fallen Baku while the other facing Danzō and forming a unique hand-seal as he blew water from his mouth to the ground below him which raised upwards with tremendous force to form a sturdy wall of water around them.

The Senjutsu chakra powered **Suiton: Suijinheki** with ease blocked the **Fūton: Shinkū Renpa (Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves)**, and not giving Danzō anymore time the real Naruto was already on him…

"**Kawazu Tataki (Frog Strike)**!" he called out as he delivered an open-handed strike onto Danzō's chest sending ripples of natural energy that emanate through the struck target and explosively release inside the opponent's body.

* * *

A huge amount of blood bloated out of Danzō's mouth as he felt an unknown force ripple and destroy his insides and all that with a single strike, and once again he was grateful of using **Izanagi**.

As he materialized once again at some distance from Naruto, from the corner of his eyes he caught the other two clones of Naruto attacking the Baku… one Naruto used the immense strength that he seemed to posses in Sage mode to literally throw the Baku high in the air in the trajectory of the other Naruto that had jumped high above shinobi standards and was descending downwards with two gigantic **Rasengan**.

The **Senpō: Ōdama Rasenrengan (Sage Art: Big Ball Spiraling Serial Sphere)** connected with the ascending Baku, and he watched as the power of those destructive, wildly spinning orb literally tear through the gigantic elephantine chimera and then blast it with utmost force towards the ground…

BOOOOMMMM!

The ground literally shook as the injured Baku tore in the ground with unbelievable force and then was dispelled.

A frowned marred Danzō's face, but he had more important things to worry about as he looked at the **Sharingan** eyes on his artificial right limb and his frown deepened further, the battle had ranged long enough and combined with the prowess of the boy he had already lost seven eyes.

But the bright side of all it was that he could feel the power of the right **Sharingan** eye returning, the fearsome Dōjutsu prowess of Uchiha Shisui would be soon in his grasp as he had concentrated a great deal of Hashirama's power to the right eye. He knew that in doing so he was risking shortening the time-span of **Izanagi**, but he also knew that it was only the power of Shisui's Dōjutsu and Hashirama's **Mokuton** would help him gain control of the Kyūbi.

"Three more left to go…"

He heard the boy say. His single eye widened grasping the wordings of the boy's words…

"Those **Sharingan** on the right hand of yours, once all the ten of them are closed… the genjutsu will no longer protect you."

His eye was wide in complete shock in hearing that…

"You-You know of **Izanagi**?"

The idea of the boy knowing of a jutsu forbidden amongst the Uchiha was troubling news for him… but then the smirk on the boy's face told him of the thing he did not want to believe.

"You tricked me… very clever of you", he growled… even if the boy had somehow be in the know of **Izanagi**, he certainly was unaware of the limitations of the **Izanagi** he wielded.

But now he himself had given him the information he needed and knew well enough that the boy was going to come at him full force. Normally he would love to draw the battle longer and to deactivate **Izanagi** to buy more time, but this was no normal situation as he faced on a boy who was well known for his stamina and endurance, and was a Jinchūriki and an Uzumaki to boot, and was also currently in Sage Mode… All of it was a minus to him, and it wasn't like the boy was going to give him room for his own act.

And before he knew the boy was on him with winds howling around him and wind-chakra casing his hand, and even before he could react the **Reppūzuki** was thrust through his heart, the wind chakra severing his body from the inside.

A stream of blood bloated out of his mouth as he felt his entire body torn apart from the inside. Death streamed near and he was forced to use Izanagi before its advent time…

* * *

He felt the light of another **Sharingan** go out, and that brought him one step closer to seeing the man was stopped here and now. But he knew he couldn't afford to let Danzō rest, or deactivate Izanagi at this very moment as he had taken a gamble and so he had to continue his relentless attacks and see that the man had no other option but to keep using Izanagi.

And so he moved on with his attack…

Being in Sage Mode helped him sense the materialization of Danzō behind him and turned around in time to see a handful of shuriken shot from Danzō's hands towards him. He didn't give the incoming shurikens much of a thought as his hands flew through a set of hand-seals…

Water gushed out of his mouth like a waterfall, intercepting the incoming shurikens, but completely missing Danzō to the great surprise of the man.

But from the start he did not mean for the **Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Wild Water Wave)** to even hit Danzō from the beginning, it was meant for something completely else, for as the water from the **Suiton: Mizurappa** rained downwards he formed a single unique hand-seal and instead of a rain of water droplets, a rain of one thousand long needles showered Danzō from all directions.

The** Sensatsu Suishō (Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)** in Sage Mode turned out to be more powerful than even Naruto had anticipated it to be as the thousands of water needles pierced the body of Danzō at very high speeds. No wonder Fukasaku had told him that in Sage Mode the power his nin-gen-tai-jutsu increased dramatically, he had seen it with the **Rasengan** and its variants, the **Fūton: Rasenshuriken** and **Fūton: Hōkaitaifū Bakufū**, but those were all powerful jutsus in their own right, but now that idea was proven as he watched the power of B-rank Suiton ninjutsu match that of an A-rank ninjutsu.

But that was not what was of importance at this moment, the importance was to see Danzō stopped here and for all as he felt the use of Izanagi once more. Forming the all too familiar hand-seal of the jutsu he must have already used about a thousand of times…

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

And as stated a clone of him materialized by his side and the two worked in tandem to bring to existence the strongest jutsu in his arsenal… even if he had learned to use the Rasengan without the need of a clone or two hands, but it seemed that even C.B.-Naruto failed to get a hang of it without the help of clone…

A loud bell-like screech vibrated throughout the area indicating to the formation of **Senpō: Fūton: Rasenshuriken (Sage Art: Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken)** just in time as he sensed Danzō materialize at another point.

That was all he needed as he threw the bell-like screeching, dense and quick spinning chakra shuriken towards Danzō with speed that Danzō could do nothing of as he was caught in the jutsu. He watched as the Rasenshuriken expand and then catch the Shinobi no Yami in a vortex of countless wind blades that disintegrated the body of the man.

* * *

"T-This is… well, Damn!" Omoi swore out loud as he watched on the ongoing battle.

The trio of Kumo-nins had been disturbed by the explosion rocking Konoha, and like many had rushed to the source of explosion wondering whether it was an attack of Konoha's enemy to take advantage of their dire state or was another member of Akatsuki here.

But arriving at the location they were surprised to find a clash between the Rokudaime Hokage – Uzumaki Naruto – and the Shinobi no Yami – Shimura Danzō. And like many they were shocked at the fight they watched on, it had gone beyond the levels of normal shinobi, for this was truly the battle between two Kage level shinobis.

But what had them more shocked and surprised was that the Hokage was dominating the entity of the fight, with power and skills that far surpassed the man he was facing. It was then they could see that how someone so young had singlehandedly fought the Akatsuki leader, the man responsible for the great crater that was once Konoha, and the bearer of the fabled Rinnegan.

"And you wanted to anger him…" Omoi said as he shot an irritated look at Karui.

"I-I…" Karui just didn't know what to say this time around.

"It would be cool if from this time around we watch our steps and even our tongues, for we do not want to rile up the Hokage… that certainly would be not cool", Samui said… even if her tone was as always uncaring, Karui and Omoi could sense that each word she spoke was something they better hold onto.

Meanwhile Samui just watched on to the clash that seemed to have happened so far and still continued to happen, her mind furiously calculating the situation and comparing it with the knowledge she had spent years gaining. Even with all her knowledge, she still could not make head and toes of the jutsu that Danzō seemed to use apart from the fact that it was related to the Sharingan on his artificial right hand. That was all of it she could come up with, and it seemed no one around seemed to have garnered any more information on the jutsu than she had, apart from the Hokage. That itself made her respect the b-man more.

All that did not make her miss the transformation of the Hokage and his sudden power boost, and somehow she had caught onto the word 'Sage Mode' being whispered by the pink haired girl, if not mistaken who was the teammate of the Hokage and the student of Senju Tsunade.

Only hearing the words 'Sage Mode' had her eyes widened to epic proportions for few seconds. Even if there was very little knowledge on the revered and legendary Sages and the Sage Mode they entered in battle, it was enough to show her just what something of that caliber could make shinobis grovel in fear. The last known Sage was Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin and was said to be trained by the Toads in the Sage Arts, and so it shouldn't have been surprise to see the Rokudaime Hokage to be a Sage too as he was not only the apprentice of Jiraiya, but was also capable of summoning the Toads.

But even then from what she had read attaining the Sage Mode was not an easy task, it was as if one him/her-self intended to end his/her life, and it was noted that many had died trying to achieve that power of the Sages. And yet in front of her was someone only sixteen and yet had achieved what would take many years to ever achieve.

Of all she had heard so far and what she was seeing now, to her Uzumaki Naruto became more and more mysterious, a mystery she would love to solve.

* * *

"I am not done yet!" Danzō exclaimed as for the final time he materialized into existence after using Izanagi… he still had another shot at Izanagi, but he did not want to waste away Shisui's Dōjutsu for something like that… and so unwrapping the bandages of his forehead and right eye exposing the final Sharingan and then closing his left eye he said "… I won't go down to a brat like you!"

And with that said Danzō went on the offensive intending to not giving any chance for the blonde further chance to get a hit on him… with no Izanagi chances of him surviving now were becoming dull. His best bet at this moment was either Shisui's Dōjutsu or Hashirama's Mokuton; the latter took a significant toll on his chakra reserves and thus it was out seeing that he was already very low on chakra, and the former needed a few more seconds for him to fully be capable of using the **Mangekyō Sharingan** once again.

And so Danzō exhaled several blades of wind at different angles, by rapidly moving their head in various directions, the widespread and devastating **Fūton: Shinkū Renpa (Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves)** coursed through the air and headed to the blonde who stood impassively.

"**Senpō: Fūton: Kamikaze (Sage Art: Wind Release: Divine Wind)!**" Naruto whispered holding onto the Hitsuji (Ram) hand-seal.

The winds around Naruto picked up pace and formed a gust which formed into a tornado all around him and easily blocking of **Fūton: Shinkū Renpa**.

But Naruto wasn't done there as he formed another set of hand-seals as the tornado picked up pace and condensed forming a whirling vortex of wind in the form of a giant, powerful dragon…

"**Fūton: Fūryūdan no Jutsu (Wind Release: Wind Dragon Bullet Technique)!**" he whispered as the ferocious wind dragon charged at Danzō.

The said man was barely able to dodge the ferocious dragon as it slammed into him dealing a substantial amount of physical damage because of the jutsus condensed nature along with the cutting nature of a vortex and the wind element.

Blood bloated out of Danzō's mouth and also from the many cuts on his body from the **Fūton: Fūryūdan no Jutsu**, but he did not have much time to think of it as the blonde was already in front of him, and before he could react he was slammed into a nearby rock with a firm grip on his neck.

"Self-Sacrifice… that word coming out of your mouth feels like an insult Danzō…" Naruto spoke, his voice full of venom.

Danzō tried to retaliate, but the grip on his throat tightened to a degree where he was essentially robbed of his voice and the only could glare at the boy in front of him, the only thing he could do was to glare at the blonde and he did so quite venomously.

"_Forget self-sacrifice, you don't even know sacrifice, Danzō. To the world it may seem that you sacrificed parts of your body for your shinobi duties and then sacrificed your time and effort for your Root, but all those sacrifices were done by you for your own selfish reasons and for power. You even ordered the massacre of the Uchiha so that you could dissect their bodies for the power of the Sharingan they held, and even went on as far as digging the grave of the Shodai Hokage and experiment with his body just for the sake of more power._" Each and every word that stemmed out of Naruto's voice was filled with so much venom that it made Danzō cringe.

"It was all for the greater good…" Danzō was somehow able to choke out and then freeing himself and gaining a bit of distance he continued "… Everything I have done was to ensure the survival of Konoha! And one day for the betterment of the Elemental Nations! You think after everything I've accomplished that I would just give up like that? You're just like that fool of a father of yours and the Sandaime!"

Another kunai slipped into the hand of Danzō and he breathed wind-infused chakra into the kunai and charged at the blonde.

"You say I'm like my father…" Naruto spoke as he sidestepped the wind kunai due to the enhanced reflexes of the Sage Mode and delivered an elbow to the Danzō's right hand forcing him to drop the wind-infused kunai and a punch to the man's stomach forcing him to back paddle "… I take it as a compliment, for my father fought for his home, he sacrificed his life and even his soul to make sure that we all go on to live and prosper. The Sandaime was a great man as well; he protected his home for many years and was again one of the many who sacrificed his life and also his soul for Konoha. That is Self-Sacrifice, Danzō!"

"I do not care of what you think of me or my methods… I know that only my ways could bring peace to the shinobi world, and for that I need you under my command… I need the power of the Kyūbi no Yōko…" and with that the Danzō's hand blurred through a set of hand-seals…

"**Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu — Kakuan Nitten Suishu (Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique — Enclosed Hermitage Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands)!**" Danzō roared as he slammed his right artificial limb on the ground.

Wooden poles which were engraved and had what resembled foo-dog faces and lit wicks on top of them shot up from the ground around Naruto and slammed onto him pinning him in his place. A blue chakra string then attached itself from Danzō's hands to Naruto's chest…

"I have got you now Uzumaki… **Kotoamatsukami!**"

* * *

"SHIT!" Kakashi muttered as he rushed alongside a few other shinobis to the aide of the Hokage – Naruto.

But before anyone could made progress towards the duo locked in a clash of wills, wooden poles rose from the ground around the two erecting a barrier that is strong enough to prevent anyone or thing from neither entering nor leaving the perimeter defined by the chains…

"**Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)!**" he called as he slammed his lightning encased hand to the wooden barrier in hopes that the **Raikiri** would cut through it, but the barrier budged not even an inch.

"**Jūho Sōshiken (Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists)!**"

"**Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank)!**"

"**Gatsūga (Fang Passing Fang)!**"

"**Ōkashō (Cherry Blossom Impact)!**"

"**Hakke Hasangeki (Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher)!**"

"**Double Dynamic Entry!**"

"**Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu (Wood Release: Great Forest Technique)!**"

"**Katon: Gōen no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Flame Technique)!**"

"**Fūton: Kyōryoku Fūha (Wind Release: Powerful Wind Wave)!**"

…

He wasn't the only one to try and force his way through the wooden barrier as it was impacted by variety of jutsus, jutsus from not only the Konoha 11, but also various shinobis.

But none of the jutsus made an impact on the barrier…

"This is not good…" he couldn't help but think…

The Mokuton and **Sharingan** were two abilities that helped one control the Kyūbi, so did it mean that Danzō was after Naruto and Kyūbi all along.

* * *

Once again Naruto found himself into his sub-consciousness, an empty white space with a red moon with a black pinwheel-like fan design at the centre glowing brightly.

But this time the red moon wasn't the only thing in his sub-consciousness that tried to bend his will to it, but there were also wooden spikes restraining him from trying to free himself from the influence of the moon were also trying to overpower his will. The moon was calling to him, compelling him to its will, trying to fight to gain control of his mind and his consciousness, while the wooden spikes were subduing his will and the combined efforts of the Mokuton and the Sharingan seemed to doing its wonder…

"D-Do Something, B-Boy…" the chocked voice of Kyūbi vibrated his sub-consciousness and from the corner of his eyes he saw the great Kyūbi no Yōko right behind him.

Apparently he wasn't the only one that was being restrained by the wooden spikes, the Kyūbi was too, and by the looks of things it seemed that the fox was having a harder time than him.

An image of Nagato wavered before his eyes…

"_You are an odd kid… You remind me of myself when I was young… I couldn't believe in what Jiraiya believed in… nor believe in myself… but you chose a different path. In you I can see another future. I… will believe in you…"_

"_Dying like trash… never ending hatred… pain that never heals… that is war… Naruto… this… is what you must face… The book… and you… It's like… someone… set this all up… Or… maybe… this… is… the hand of the real God… My role is over now… Naruto… you… can really—"_

Another image of Konan wavered…

"_Nagato believed in you, so I believe in you, too."_

"_This time… I hope for you these will be flowers of hope that never die."_

An image of Kakashi wavered…

"_You are the only one who can surpass the Yondaime Hokage… I believe in you!"_

An image of Tsunade wavered…

"_It's because to be Hokage… is your dream… isn't it Naruto? One last time… just one last time… I place the odds on you."_

And then image of her kissing his forehead…

An image of Jiraiya wavered…

"_Even I can tell that hatred is spreading. I wanted to do something about it … but I don't know what … but I believe… that someday the day will come when people truly understand one another! If I can't find the answer, it will be up to you to do it!"_

"_I feel like your smile is my salvation. I am glad I took you as my apprentice!"_

Finally the image of Namikaze Minato wavered in front of his eyes…

"_You will find the answer… I believe in you."_

The world stopped for him, even in his own sub-consciousness each and everything stopped… the noise of Kyūbi struggling against the binds, the wooden pillars sucking on his chakra, the compulsion of the moon, each and everything halted.

Or rather Naruto found himself in a tranquil state that far surpassed that of the one he achieved while training to use Sage Mode. When in Sage Mode his Body (Yang) and Mind (Yin) had come in peace with the Nature, and the three had become one to form Senjutsu Chakra, but now his Body (Yang) and Mind (Yin) had become one with his Soul (Life)…

Unknown to him the Kyūbi had stopped struggling against the wooden pillars that wished to bind him as his eyes were now completely focused on his host…

"I-It ca-can't be…"

* * *

This was it, this was all his plans and patience had rewarded him. Danzō knew that this was his moment. The boy and the beast were within his grasps. And with those two under his command there would be no one to oppose him.

He at first had hesitated with this choice seeing that the **Kotoamatsukami** had already failed him once and the boy had hold of the other eye of Shisui, but this time around he was going to use the eye to its full power along with the jutsu of the Shodai Hokage that had helped him subdue the Bijū, and to his eternal surprise it was working.

The wooden pillars had drained any and all remaining of the Senjutsu Chakra of the blonde returning him to his normal self and then went onto drain chakra of the blonde.

As he had anticipated, the Sharingan of Uchiha Shisui showed its presence as he invoked **Kotoamatsukami**; the power of the two **Mangekyō Sharingan** clashing against each other…

But that is where the combination of **Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu — Kakuan Nitten Suishu **and **Kotoamatsukami** showed its effect as the **Mangekyō Sharingan** started to fade away to give way for the normal **Sharingan**.

He could feel it, his victory was very close, but also could feel the strain on his body by using both Mokuton and **Mangekyō Sharingan** at the same time, especially when he was so low on chakra and he still barely had good control over the cells of the Shodai. The first of his task after gaining control over the boy and the Kyūbi, and then later Konoha would be to search for Kabuto to get hands on Orochimaru's research.

"Give up, boy!" he snarled as he forced more power behind **Kotoamatsukami**.

"Y-You should give up…" the boy's voice croaked out.

It irritated him; his resistance frustrated him beyond any, but then…

His eyes widened, he felt the very essence of the boy change. He felt power unbridled, untamed and immeasurable flood from the blonde, and it wasn't the Kyūbi.

"… Trying to make me give up!"

His eyes widened as even with the wooden pillars continuing to drain the boy's chakra, the boy seemed unaffected by it, rather it was the pillars that bind him showed the change as the pillars draining his chakra reacted to his chakra and mature into full-grown trees within a matter of seconds. It wasn't just the wooden pillars as even the artificial arm of his created by the cells of the Shodai reacted to the boy's presence even when he had cut the link granted by the **Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu — Kakuan Nitten Suishu**.

Apparently it did not matter whether he was connected to the boy or not, even being in his proximity had an effect on the Mokuton as was seen by the wooden pillars binding him, the wooden barrier and his artificial limb… the Mokuton was being overpowered by the boy's very presence and his chakra.

It was because of this he was forced to cut away the artificial limb of his boy as the cells of the Shodai began to rapidly grow into a large tree that threatened to engulf him completely.

"You…" he snarled at the blonde, but his word got caught in his mouth as he looked at the now glowing eyes of the blonde.

Not only was his right eye glowing ethereal blue, the left eye containing the **Sharingan** of Uchiha Shisui had once again matured to the **Mangekyō Sharingan** and with ease broke through **Kotoamatsukami**.

But then he saw a sight that made him pale, and before he could even react a powerful repulsive force struck him, a repulsive force that emitted with the blonde as the centre. The repulsive force destroyed each and everything in its path, from the wooden pillars/tress that had the blonde in a bind, the tree born from his artificial limb and the wooden barrier.

He himself was not doing any better as he felt thrown backwards with force so strong that it seemed to have shattered his bones.

* * *

The shinobi outside the wooden barrier braced themselves as a repulsive force washed over them, a force similar to the jutsu Pein used to destroy Konoha, but on a lower scale, or rather the wooden barrier had taken the full brunt of the repulsive force as it was shattered into miniscule pieces.

"What is going on?" Shikamaru questioned out loud amidst the dust and debris.

But there was no answer as no one could understand the situation, and the only thing they all could do was wait for the dust and debris to settle down.

And they waited…

Finally when the dust and debris settled down, there they saw Uzumaki Naruto standing on the broken and beaten body of Shimura Danzō.

Just looking at them they could all see the result of the clash, but it wasn't the result of the clash of them that had their attention, it was the changes, and it certainly wasn't that Danzō was missing his artificial right limb.

It was Uzumaki Naruto. His very presence felt different, and it wasn't the sinister feel of the Kyūbi no Yōko. His presence was bright, warming, powerful and of one in command.

"N-NO… NO! THIS WON'T END THIS WAY!" Danzō shouted as his right eye was bleeding heavily.

Apparently Danzō wasn't dead…

But to their immense surprise Naruto answered him, his voice completely calm yet held an ethereal tone…

"It ends here, Danzō. It is funny, for you who always preached of self-sacrifice never could yourself understand the value of sacrifice, the immaterial and selfless sacrifices. The sacrifice of the souls and lives of the Yondaime and the Sandaime Hokage, the sacrifices of the previous Kages, the sacrifice of the honor of Uchiha Itachi, the price paid by Uchiha Shisui, the sacrifice of the emotions of the ANBU of Ne (Root), the sacrifice of the humanity of a Jinchūriki when a they are made the hose of a Bijū, and the sacrifices of the thousands of ninjas for their home, their village and their nation."

The crowd just stood their place listening to their Hokage…

"In comparison all that you call as your sacrifices have done nothing but have helped brew more hatred, even this invasion is partially your fault, and all of it you say was done in order for the survival of Konoha."

They could feel the blonde losing control of his calm and hatred sipping into his voice…

"YOU WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND THINGS NEEDED TO BE DONE FOR THE SURVIVAL OF KONOHA!" Danzō shouted as he tried to force himself to his feet.

"Maybe I don't, maybe I do. Maybe it is as you say that I who has not ventured into the darkness of the shinobi world have no right to be the Hokage… but neither do you", Naruto answered.

"WHAT!?" Danzō roared.

Even the crowd was stunned…

But Naruto seemed unconcerned of anyone's thoughts as he continued speaking, "… For a Hokage is a seed that bloomed into a magnificent tree whose leaves bathed in the light of the sun, while their roots held a firm grip in the darkness of underground. But you Danzō kept on ignoring the light that always pierced the darkness, the light which made the Hokages and Konoha to bloom into what it is today."

The crowd remained stunned…

"Naruto… no, Hokage-sama!" Kakashi whispered, you could hear the pride in his voice.

But Naruto wasn't finished as he continued speaking, his voice louder than ever "… You Danzō continued to grow in that darkness. Everything you did was for your own sake, for power, for the title of Hokage. The Shodai and Nidaime entrusted Konoha to us, to protect and help make it prosper. They passed onto us the Hi no Ishi (Will of Fire) in belief that by loving, believing, cherishing and fighting for the sake of the village and our comrade as the previous generations had done before them so that one day the future generation could see their dreams and ambitions fulfilled without war and bloodshed… _And you spit on their graves with every action you committed_.

The title of Hokage is earned; there are no shortcuts to the title and earning it by making people feel fear and controlling them… _you are a pathetic man_."

Each and every one could feel the venom that was released out of the mouth of their Hokage as he called out to Danzō's actions and of the passion of when he spoke of the title of the Hokage; it was common knowledge as to how much the boy coveted the title, but today they could truly feel the passion and drive he had towards being the Hokage.

If there was still any doubts among any that Uzumaki Naruto wasn't worthy of the title of the Hokage, then it was white washed hearing his words.

"Wow! I've never heard so much venom in his voice before", Kiba said as Naruto's anger actually sent a shiver down her spine.

"It's because of how loyal he is to Konoha", Shikaku said who now stood next to his son.

"And the title of Hokage", added Kakashi who had his book no-where to be seen as he watched how much his student had truly grown in both mind and body.

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

"The title of Hokage is something Naruto had dreamt off his whole life, the fact that someone uses unethical means and uses fear to gain the Hokage position", Sakura answered… she was in complete awe of what she had seen transpire here.

"Well… remind me not to get him angry", commented Shikamaru… blondes were truly troublesome.

"He sounded just like a Hokage", Anko mused…

No one could argue on that, they all felt the same.

* * *

"This is the end…" Naruto said as a **Rasengan** formed in his right hand.

"N-NO!" the enraged Danzō shouted "… IF THIS WILL BE MY END, THEN I WILL TAKE YOU ALONG WITH ME!"

Ripping off his shirt of Danzō revealed to all the seal engraved on his body…

"That's the **Ura Shishō Fūinjutsu (Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique)**!" Naruto said out loud as his widened to epic proportions, he was well aware of the seal.

But even after knowing the jutsu did not help Naruto to evade the Fūinjutsu as he was caught in between the four symbols that released of Danzō's body and black ink-like liquid oozed out of the man's body, his body was already pushed to the limit. But being caught in the Fūinjutsu there were very few ways to escape its clutches…

"NARUTO/NARUTO-KUN/HOKAGE-SAMA!"

He heard his friends and all the shinobis all around call out, each of their voice sounded worried. Their worry justified as the jutsu forced more black ink-like substance spay out of Danzō's body.

In his arsenal currently only one jutsu that he knew could save him from this predicament, and so he was quick to unseal a single special kunai, a kunai that had gained the name Hiraishin Kunai (Flying Thunder God Kunai) for its use by Namikaze Minato in conjunction to execute his infamous **Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)**. This was that very same kunai, the only difference was the jutsu-shiki (technique formula) that marked the kunai. He had worked relentlessly on his father's jutsu – though he didn't know so at that time – and had made it his own with his own jutsu-shiki to manipulate the folds of space and time.

Tossing the Hiraishin Kunai out of the reach of the reach of the Fūinjutsu he concentrated on his remaining last bouts of chakra as the **Ura Shishō Fūinjutsu** engulfed him in a black sphere and started to draw him within Danzō.

* * *

The crowd of shinobis gathered around just watched with worry and horror as the final jutsu that Danzō used formed a cocoon of black ink-like substance that had released from the seals on Danzō's body. The black sphere engulfed both Danzō and Naruto, and chances of either surviving something like that seemed very slim.

Once again the shinobis of Konoha decided to act, but before they could even move to break in the black sphere, a kunai wheezed out of the sphere, a kunai that was well known to the older generations.

All watched the kunai sail past them and then go onto strike a boulder and be embedded in it, and a second later after the kunai had embedded itself in the rock there in a flash of yellow appeared Uzumaki Naruto - the Rokudaime Naruto.

"That is the **Hiraishin**!" Kakashi muttered with wide eyes… he had not expected Naruto to be in the know of the jutsu. Just how much was the boy had been holding onto he couldn't help but wonder.

But before anyone could rush to the side of the blonde Hokage had entered a meditative stance albeit the fatigue you could see on his face…

'Is this not over yet?' all around the shinobis couldn't help but wonder.

Only because of the Sharingan did Kakashi see the difference in the blonde's left eye before it had returned back to his normal blue color.

By the time Naruto entered the fabled Sage Mode no one dared approach the fallen body of Danzō that seemed to be crushed by the black sphere that had condensed on itself…

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke's mind tried to get around the idea of Uzumaki Naruto as the Hokage, and try he might he could not see the hyperactive knucklehead ex-teammate of his in such an esteemed position.

He had long since known the desire of the blonde to become the Hokage, the blonde had been subtle in his ways as he shouted to the world that one day he would be the Hokage, but back then he had looked at it has a pathetic attempts at jokes or pranks the blonde was infamous for. But over the years the things changed, or rather things started to change since they were put on the same genin team.

He had been one of the few to see the blonde's drive towards his goal and dreams, and had seen the improvement he made over the course of time, improvement at pace that the blonde had eventually surpassed him both skills and strength. It had frustrated him to no end.

And then when they had met after nearly three years he was satisfied to know that the blonde was nowhere close to his power and it also proved that him joining the Snake Sannin had been right decision.

But now hearing from Zetsu that the blonde had possibly surpassed him, his anger once again rose, and not only that but to hear that he singlehandedly defeated the man responsible for the destruction of Konoha did not bode well with him. Even his comrades were shocked at this revelation.

"Oho…"

The surprised and shocked look of Zetsu caught his and everyone's attention.

"Something happened, Zetsu?" the Masked Madara asked.

"Danzō made his move on Naruto…" White Zetsu replied.

'What do they mean by Danzō making his move on Naruto? What would the man want from the dobe?' he wondered… by the body posture of the masked Madara he seemed to be expecting and un-expecting the thing at the same time.

"That is not good for us", the Masked Madara commented.

He was right… Uzumaki Naruto was the host of the Kyūbi after all.

"_You don't need to worry about the Kyūbi, _Danzō is dealt with" Zetsu replied… both the black and the white one after each other.

This got his attention, what did they mean with Danzō being dealt with.

"_Uzumaki Naruto killed Shimura Danzō._"

Everything halted from this point to him, even the surprised looks of his team, at this moment nothing mattered to him. Naruto had killed Danzō, killed the man responsible for the life that Itachi lived and the one major player behind the massacre of the Uchiha clan.

He silently listened to the general description Zetsu gave on the death-duel that had occurred between Danzō and Naruto and with each passing second his anger on Danzō had grown and so on Naruto for taking away his vengeance.

"What do you intend to do now?" Masked Madara asked bringing him out of his angered-stupor.

"Just as I agreed, I will go to the Gokage Kaidan and kill the Kages", he answered.

He had albeit reluctantly agreed to that solution a while back, for he knew that unless and until he knew the secret behind the Masked Madara's jutsu he wasn't going to have any chance to defy the man, but now…

"I will show them the power of my vengeance, the power of an Uchiha, _especially to Naruto…_" he said and without looking backwards whether his team followed or not he rushed behind the White Zetsu that was going to guide them to the summit.

His team followed him, but were he to look back he would see the worried face of Karin.

* * *

"Hokage-sama…" Samui said as she looked at the Rokudaime Hokage asking permission to enter his office/makeshift hospital room.

She was a shinobi of Kumogakure and her loyalty was that to the Raikage and Kumogakure, but she had always respected people of great strengths and the current Hokage was one such example. It was rare for shinobi of other villages to give respect to the Kages of villages they were not affiliated with, but she did for the man had earned it.

She had been of the many witnesses of his strength in both material and immaterial terms.

His clash with Shimura Danzō was one of the very few fights she would forever remember… though she wondered what happened to the body of Danzō, it held thousands of secrets.

The Hokage had been not allowed any other visitor for another day seeing he had just gone through another grueling battle in a time span of a few days.

"You wanted something, Kumo-chan?" the Hokage asked.

Unknowingly her left eyebrow slightly rose… she hadn't expected him to be so casual.

"It's Samui, Hokage-sama", she answered.

"Samui it is. So, did you need something of me?" he asked again.

"I know you said that you would personally give your answer to Raikage-sama, but still…" she said a bit hesitantly… this was the very reason she had come to meet the Hokage alone this time around, she did not want the mouth of Karui to ruin it.

"I think my answer was already quite clear…"

Maybe coming along wasn't the right choice…

"…Uchiha Sasuke will be condemned for his crimes."

Her eyes widened.

"Even if Konoha had not previously gone on the hunt of Uchiha Sasuke, he was back then and still is a missing-nin and an accomplice of Orochimaru. The situation has not changed much, other than the fact that he is now an ally of Akatsuki, a group consisting of S-ranked criminals. His faith will the same as those of the other members and allies of Akatsuki."

She was shocked by that answered; it was what they were here for…

"Then why?" she couldn't help but question… why did the Hokage want to relay his message directly to the Raikage.

It seemed that the Hokage understood her unasked question as he answered, "A personal request."

She couldn't help but wonder what the Hokage meant by that…

And again it seemed he read through her as with a simple smile he answered, "Uchiha Sasuke and I were once teammates, rivals and in our own crude way the best of friends, he was one of the first that I ever had any kind of bond with, until Sasuke decided to break all bonds and leave the village to join Orochimaru for more power. Even then I still hoped to one day returning him back to those days, because of the bond of friendship we shared and a promise I made a friend… until now. So I wish to make a personal request to the Raikage."

"I see…" she replied…

She didn't know how much Uchiha Sasuke meant to Uzumaki Naruto, but the way he spoke showed that he valued that bond, and knowing that how difficult it was for a Jinchūriki she slightly thought she could understand his predicament. She had seen something similar with Nii Yugito, the Jinchūriki of Nibi… though her situation was much better by her understanding than that of the Jinchūriki of the other villages thanks to Kirābī.

So she couldn't help but wonder the kind of life the man in front of her must have lived through, especially for him to cherish a bond that had long been severed…

"Is something wrong with my face?" the Hokage asked bringing her out of her stupor…

"N-Nothing. So-Sorry for staring", she answered and taking his leave quickly left the room leaving behind a confused Hokage.

As she walked out of the tent she walked by Shizune, the first apprentice of the Godaime Hokage, who had an amused look on her face and muttering something like 'Knucklehead' 'Naruto' 'Charm' under her breath which had forced a smile on her face all the while her eyes trailed her… she just did not understand it.

* * *

Things had moved so fast in the next few hours after being released from the care of Shizune – she had been quite mad at him for risking his life twice in a row – that Naruto did truly see the difficulties of being a Hokage, especially when the village was in dire situation and the man force was stretched. He even had to go through papers while still under the care of Shizune.

Surprisingly the easiest had been dealing with the remaining Root ANBU. Surprisingly Sai had been very helpful in that matter, and it had further helped when they had witnessed his fight with Danzō. The point was straight, each and every shinobi of Konoha worked under the Hokage, and he Uzumaki Naruto was the Hokage.

Oh, and the Root-nins were also going to be subjected to Konoha Intelligence Division's investigation to learn of the stuffs Danzō and Root had done behind the back of the Hokage, and what of in the benefit of Konoha and what was going to hurt Konoha in coming future.

The matter 'what to do with the body of Danzō?' had been short, yet the most troublesome as he had been confronted by the two elders. The talk between the three had really bothered his nerves and he had snapped at them…

"_All these years you two were aware of Danzō's doing – if not the entire thing, but certainly most of it – and yet neither of you two saw it fit to take action, to stop the man from doing what he had done so far… and don't give me the shit about it being for the sake of Konoha, for it was not. Danzō was all about himself and so were the things he did in the guise of 'for the sake of Konoha'. And if I ever learn that you were a part of all these, then Rikudō save you two from me._"

That had shut those two up and from there it had been an easy matter to deal. Knowing full well the secrets the man carried and the experiments on his body, cremation of Danzō's body was the only way to forever take those secrets to the grave with the man. He had even entered Sage Mode to confirm whether the man had finally succumbed to death or not, and only after the confirmation had he succumbed to unconsciousness.

Then there were matters with the reconstruction and safety of Konoha, and never in his life had he been so glad to have Shikaku to help him, the man knew the workings like the back of his hands and had seen each and every small and big documents and missions that would come in handy to help Konoha through in this situation was presented to him. The man was god-send in those matters.

Currently he had some free time; or rather he silently waited for the two he had chosen to come along with him to attend the Gokage Kaidan, and for it be known around that the Hokage would be leaving for the meeting of the five Kages. Apparently martial law was implemented in such rare situation where no shinobi of the five villages are to leave the village… safety of the five Kages has the prominence. They would be leaving in a few hours.

But now alone and sitting atop the head of the Yondaime on the Hokage Mountain seeing the rebuilding of the village his thoughts reeled towards a single person, someone who he once hated the most, had declared him his rival, had pursued for his acknowledgement, had become best friends with and had eventually come to think as a brother… Uchiha Sasuke.

Try he might his mind could not wrap itself on things Sasuke was up to, it was as if the Sasuke he knew no longer remained. As far as he remembered he knew that the greatest goal of Sasuke was to kill his brother, the person that had massacred his entire family and had left him behind to be the vengeance of the Uchiha clan. Vengeance… Even back when they were at the academy and then in the same genin team had been the sole goal of Sasuke. He was even willing to sell his soul to demons like Orochimaru for the power to fulfill his vengeance, and so had left Konoha to train under the Snake Sanin.

But when he had finally achieved his vengeance, had succeeded in killing Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke had not returned to Konoha, rather had gone and join Akatsuki. He had a fleeting feeling that it somehow something to do with the truth behind the massacre of the Uchiha clan, though he didn't know how Sasuke would have come to learn of it as he was certain that Itachi would take that secret with him to his grave… So how?

'Has the hatred eaten you up, Sasuke? Or have you closed your eyes in the darkness? To go and join Akatsuki… have you chosen to walk down the road of hatred and darkness and lead a life of a criminal?'

He really wanted to believe that all he had heard and read been a dream, an illusion fabricated by Itachi… but he knew it was not so…

'I don't understand you anymore, Sasuke…'

"Hokage-sama!"

He felt three presences appear behind him.

"Do you really need to call me Hokage-sama, Kakashi-sensei…? I thought we were close enough to not bother with ranks and titles…" he groaned out turning to face Kakashi, Sai and Yamato… the latter looked as if he had been starved for days, but seeing that he had forced himself beyond anyone in the reconstruction work it was quite understandable.

"Hey there Yamato-taichō… you don't look so good", he greeted the other.

"Perks of overworking in the reconstruction of the village… and its either Tenzō or Yamato, not Yamato-taichō from now on Hokage-sama", the Mokuton user replied… you could hear the mirth in his voice.

"Not you too…" he groaned out.

"You are the Rokudaime Hokage now Naruto-san, you have to get to be used to it", Sai commented.

It was as if they were reeling in his annoyance…

"Fine, Fine… and it is Rokudaime Hokage Kōho", he replied back.

"Hai, Hai!" the three replied in tandem as if dismissing his words… he really hated that.

For a minute or so silence stretched which was broken by Kakashi, "You know, people all around Konoha, a civilian and a shinobi, a child and an elder, each and everyone want to get a glimpse of their hero and now the Hokage. I wouldn't be surprised that there would be few enough to ask your autograph."

"I know…" he muttered… the latter having actually happened "… It's just feels… I don't know how to put it…"

"Uncomfortable…" Sai said.

"Thanks Sai…" he said flashing a thankful grin towards the ex-Root-nin "… it's just feels uncomfortable, all that awe-inspired looks and the gratitude, how people see me so differently…"

"I thought Hinata, Ino, Tenten, Anko and Kurenai got through you on that issue…" commented Kakashi.

"They did… but it's still feels a bit overwhelming", he answered.

"It will, but know that you have earned it", Kakashi said, the other two agreeing with him.

"Thanks sensei, guys…" he answered honestly.

Another minute of silence stretched as the four just looked onto the construction work going on in the village.

This time it was Naruto who broke the silence as his eye focused on Kakashi, "How are preparations going on before we leave for the Gokage Kaidan?"

"They are going good… most of shinobis have been summoned back to the village and security and patrols are increased, especially that of Tsunade-sama…" Kakashi answered "… how about you, are you ready?"

"I guess I will be… I just hoped it would have been Tsunade-baa-chan", he answered sincerely.

"You will do fine. Just be yourself", commented Kakashi to which he just nodded.

"Yes, yes… be myself… I am certainly going to be myself."

Yep, that was the right thing to do…

Unknown to him the trio behind him had only one thought on their minds, whether had they done the right thing by unleashing Uzumaki Naruto on the Kages.

'Nah… what is the worse that could happen?' the trio thought… certainly there wouldn't be much chaos.

Famous last words.

* * *

**The third chapter finally finished, and hope I did good… it was really hard to come up with scenario after Naruto's fight with Danzō, for I intended not to drag stuffs before I start with the Gokage Kaidan arc.**

**Some would be disappointed in the fact that Naruto did not receive the right Sharingan eye of Shisui as one would have come to expect seeing that I intend to give the left Sharingan eye of Shisui more importance… let me assure you that from the beginning I had no intention of having him the right Sharingan eye of Shisui.**

**I also hope I actually made Kotoamatsukami much more interesting than that it in the manga… the jutsu had great potential.**


	4. The era begins

_The Last Twenty Four Hour…_

"Did you really have to push yourself this hard once again?" Shizune asked as her glowing green palms healed what remained of the shoulder injury… Naruto's healing ability always had her astounded.

"I didn't have to, but I wanted to," commented Naruto and seeing the questioning look of Shizune on him he added, "It was my battle, something that I alone needed to resolve. It wouldn't have felt right if I were to ask for help."

Shizune for her part just shook her head and muttered something which vaguely sounded like 'Hokage's pride', but he could not catch on to her mutterings as she continued the administration of **Shōsen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique)** to heal what remained of his wounds.

"Well, your injuries are all healed, but it is not the injuries that is worrying, it is your chakra level," said Shizune as she gave him her patented _medic glare_… that thing had to be given a name.

"C-Come on Shizune-nee-chan, you know I heal fast both physically and chakra-wise… my chakra levels will be back to full state with some ramen tugged in my stomach…"

His words were cut-short as the force and ferocity of Shizune's _medic glare_ intensified and she spoke, "I better not hear or see you do anything chakra daunting tasks for the next twenty four hours, because if I do I will strap you to the hospital bed with not only straps, but restraining seals too. Am I clear?"

"Bu-But…" he tried to make her see the situation…

"No buts Naruto-kun," she spoke… her eyes, facial expressions and tone softened as she added, "you were still recovering from your fight with Pein where your body and chakra was pushed beyond its limit and then suddenly you are forced in a fight with Danzō where your chakra was once again tested to its limits… and after what happened to Tsunade-sama… You above all need rest, Naruto kun."

"Fine, I will not do anything chakra daunting, that I promise. But you of all people should know the situation Konoha is in, and that means no rest for me," said Naruto… even he could understand where she was coming from.

"I know," Shizune muttered.

"How's Tsunade-baa-chan?" he asked… he had yet to get time to visit her.

"Tsunade-sama's condition has stabilized… but it still is unsure when she would wake up from the coma," Shizune answered, her voice holding a tone of both relief and sadness.

"I see…"

Neither spoke a word from then as Shizune continued healing any possible injuries that remained on the blonde's body.

* * *

"Yo!" Kakashi waved at his student and now the Hokage as he along with few others were finally allowed entrance into the tent n which Naruto was _hospitalized_.

"Hey there Kakashi-sensei, Shikaku-san, Inu-san… and you brought along Yamato-taichō and Sai too. Hey guys," Naruto replied while waving at the five people to enter the tent.

"How are things out there?" he questioned the ANBU Commander and Shikaku.

"Things have stabilized. The civilians and shinobis are back to working on the construction of Konoha. The Root members were quickly apprehended before they could do any damage and now are in the holding cells under the ANBU command," answered the ANBU Commander.

"But the death of Danzō is going to bring out a lot of skeletons hidden in the closet of Konoha, and the other two elders aren't going to make it easy for you," added Shikaku, his voice grave.

"We will get to them when time comes," Naruto commented, "but I have more grave matters to discuss with you guys. Something that I learned when I almost lost myself and was about to unleash the Kyūbi…"

This had all their attention…

"It is a good thing that your seal held up, especially after the seal I and Kakashi-senpai had place failed, for we don't want to know what would have happened if you the Kyūbi had be unleashed… You went up to eight tails," commented Yamato.

No one wanted to know…

"No, my seal did not hold up… on the contrary I was about to completely unseal the seal…" Naruto answered.

"What?" a shocked looking Yamato asked… he wasn't the only one that was shocked.

"What happened then?" asked Shikaku.

"I met the Yondaime."

This had the five not only shocked, but surprised as well as forcing thousands of questions floating through their mind…

Discarding their reactions Naruto continued, "He's the one who stopped me from unsealing the Kyūbi no Yōko."

A flabbergasted Yamato when finally able to speak asked, "Wh-What do you mean? The Yondaime is…"

Kakashi decided to take it up from there as he interrupted Yamato and spoke, "not much is known about the **Shiki Fūjin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal)** jutsu. The Yondaime must have put some of his chakra inside Naruto at end."

That was plausible theory…

"He did," answered Naruto, "the Yondaime than not only re-did the seal, but also told me that the guy with the mask from Akatsuki was behind the fox attack sixteen years ago. And he was so strong that even the Yondaime barely stood against him! The Yondaime said that the guy was behind everything. He was the one possibly using Pein."

"It's as Jiraiya feared," commented Kakashi as his mind reeled back to the man they had encountered during their search for Sasuke, "that was who was behind the attack sixteen years ago… he had the **Sharingan**. Madara is the only Uchiha missing-nin who hated Konoha that much and had the power to control the Kyūbi."

"When it comes to Madara I could believe just about anything… even that he was still alive," commented the ANBU Commander, his voice sounding grave.

"Madara…" Naruto said remembering the words of Kyūbi when Sasuke was able to enter his consciousness at Orochimaru's layer…

"_With that vision of yours and chakra more ominous than my own… You're the spitting image of Madara Uchiha from the elder days…"_

And he continued, "Uchiha Madara, the former leader of Uchiha clan during the era of the Shodai Hokage and was said to have been defeated by the Shodai."

"That very one," answered Shikaku, "but the idea of it being Uchiha Madara itself complicates things. The elders need to be notified."

No one could argue that the existence of Madara amongst the living and the mastermind behind Akatsuki truly complicated things.

"Speaking of the **Sharingan**…" Naruto worded his words, the people in the room he knew could be completely trusted and so he focused on channeling chakra to his left eye, and within a second of his channeling his chakra to his left eye the **Sharingan** flared to life.

"So I wasn't imagining things," said Kakashi.

"Now that we know that we weren't imagining things, the question begets as to 'How' and 'Whose' in accordance to the Sharingan," added Shikaku.

All seemed interested…

"The 'How' apparently happens to do with Uchiha Itachi in our recent search of Sasuke," Answered Naruto once again shocking all.

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

"It was as if Itachi was certain that Sasuke wouldn't so easily return to Konoha and the **Sharingan** was a gift from him to me as a means to help me against Sasuke. And as to the 'Whose', the eye belongs to Uchiha Shisui," answered Naruto.

"Shunshin no Shisui (Shisui of the Body Flicker)," muttered the ANBU Commander…

"The **Sharingan** eye of Danzō-sama was also that of Uchiha Shisui," commented Sai out of the blue.

This caught the attention of everyone…

"I figured it to be so too," Naruto commented.

"Then wouldn't it mean…" Kakashi spoke… he had seen the Sharingan of Danzō evolve to the **Mangekyō Sharingan**.

As if understanding Kakashi's unasked question, Naruto channeled more chakra to his left eye and within the next seconds the **Sharingan** eye morphed into the **Mangekyō Sharingan** with a four-sided black-pinwheel design.

"Troublesome! This has gotten more complex," Shikaku muttered and with an authority of the Jōnin Commander of Konohagakure he commanded, "This does not leave this room."

"Well, at least this gives me a chance to teach you more," commented Kakashi… it would be good for Naruto to get used to the use of the **Sharingan**, especially if the opponent was Uchiha Madara.

That a brought a smile on Naruto's face, it had been a long since he trained under the man, "I'd love that," he said.

"Naruto," Kakashi called out garnering his attention once more and when he received the attention asked, "What did the Yondaime tell you?"

"Huh?" A confused Naruto looked at him.

The memory of his talk with his father resurfaced the mind of Kakashi as he said, "Fathers usually have things to say to their sons."

"!" A slightly confused Naruto wondered what Kakashi meant, but when it caught onto it a bright smile made way to his face…

"He said he has faith in me," he answered with the brightest of smiles.

"Great!" Kakashi said giving him thumbs up, and the others too smiled at it.

* * *

"Man that fight was intense and I thought we would barely get to see Naruto that intense after his fight with Pein," Kiba whistled.

"I wasn't aware that you had a front view seat at the time Naruto-sama fought against Pein," Shino said, his eyes lingering on his teammate.

"Quite the kill-buzz you are Shino, and you clearly understood what I mean by that," said Kiba. "And what's with calling Naruto 'Naruto-sama'?"

It was Neji who replied instead of Shino, "Naruto-sama may have graduated the academy alongside you guys, and is also a friend of ours, but he is now the Hokage and thus deserves respect."

"Rightly worded," added the ever-stoic Aburame causing Kiba to flinch at being mouthed off.

"But seriously, he went and did it, didn't he? The Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja, the one who shouted to all that he would one day be the Hokage; he has accomplished his dreams," said Shikamaru with a light chuckle leaving his lips… Naruto just had the way to do the impossible possible.

"He has earned it though," said Ino in a challenging tone as her eyes lingered on Shikamaru.

"I never said he didn't earn it," Shikamaru quickly added and then muttered under his breath, "troublesome blondes."

"Naruto-sama's Youth of Flames truly burn bright!" exclaimed Lee.

"But is Na-Naruto-kun okay? Just a day ago he went against Pein and now against Danzō," asked Hinata.

"He didn't have many injuries, though his chakra reserves though were very low and currently Shizune-senpai is looking after him," Sakura commented.

"By the way, does anyone have any idea as to why the Kumo-nins are here in Konoha?" asked Tenten.

"Akatsuki," was the simple reply of Shikamaru.

"What?" All eyes were now focused on Shikamaru.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered, he did not want to do his, but now that he had opened his mouth he decided to continue, "… it was Akatsuki that infiltrated Kumogakure and capture the Jinchūriki of Hachibi no Kyogyū, or rather it was Uchiha Sasuke and his group called Taka (Hawk) that has joined Akatsuki."

There was a stunned silence at the admission of Shikamaru…

"No, Sasuke-kun wouldn't…" Sakura voiced her opinion.

"He did, and that is the truth," Shikamaru said.

* * *

His eyes silently looked onto the peacefully resting wrinkled and old figure of Senju Tsunade, the woman whose greatness was foretold all around the world and as one of the shinobi that all men and women one day wanted to be like. But here now she was, sleeping close to the death's door and yet seemed so peaceful. She had done her deed for Konoha; she had pushed her chakra to the extreme to see that she could save as many as she could from the wrath of Pein, and this was her reward.

Even with all their work no medic was able to bring the great woman of her coma, nor could help her gain her vitality, not even Shizune. She hadn't woken up since when he had finally arrived at the scene as she had used all of her chakra through Katsuyu to protect and heal the villagers and no one knew when she would come out of the coma.

"Tsunade-baa-chan…"

He didn't know what to make of things anymore. Jiraiya had already left him before he could achieve his dreams, and now when he did achieve his dream, one of the people he wanted to see him do it was now sleeping in a possibly eternal sleep.

But that didn't mean that he had given his hope her, no, it was on the contrary. He was here for he had a way to at least return back her vitality, and in turn increasing her chances of coming out of the coma at the earliest.

Clapping the palms of his hands together he concentrated, concentrated on his chakra and the yang of it. Slowly and steady his concentration did wonders as his body was shrouded by a layer of chakra, as if engulfed by white flames. Concentrating further he willed all white flame-like chakra to the palm of his right hand.

By his side Shizune watched transfixed at the sight of Naruto completely forgetting the warning she had previously given the blonde…

"**Tenjō Hakuen (Heavenly White Flames)!**" he whispered as he placed his right hand above the heart of the sleeping form of Tsunade.

**Tenjō Hakuen** was a jutsu born through the application of Yang-based chakra and his extraordinary stamina and vitality. It was a jutsu created by C.B.-Naruto while he had learned that not only did the members of Uzumaki clan excel at Fūinjutsu and Suiton ninjutsu, but also were good at Yōton (Yang Release) and some even excelled at Onmyōton (Yin–Yang Release) due to the incredible life force of the members of the clan, and was an alternative for his lack of skills in Iryō Ninjutsu (Medical Ninjutsu).

The moment his hand touched the chest of Tsunade, the white flames intensified and within seconds engulfed the Godaime in its burning embrace. But unlike normal flames which withered away the life from what they engulfed in their burning embrace, the white flames instead granted life to Tsunade. The frail and wrinkled old form of Tsunade started to glow bluish-white and within a minute her form had returned to that of the woman she normally held herself to be…

"Tsunade-sama…" a surprised Shizune yelped and quickly rushed to the side of her mentor once the white flames had died down.

As Shizune began her diagnostics on the health of Tsunade, Naruto did not heed her rambling much thought as his eyes frequently moved from his right hand to the now vitalized form of Tsunade and back to the hand. **Tenjō Hakuen** had been more powerful than he had anticipated it to be, and not only was it powerful but also his control over it seemed to have been ten-folds better. None of it made sense.

But for some reason he felt like he had an answer, an answer that circulated around his left eye. The only thing he needed to do now was confirm his theory and for that he needed had to get to an empty training ground, and if possible have Kakashi and Yamato with him.

* * *

"That went better than you expected," commented Black Zetsu as the white-self of him had gone off with Sasuke to Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron) to be the unexpected guests at the Gokage Kaidan.

"Yes and no… I can't believe Nagato used his **Rinne Tensei no Jutsu (Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique)** like that. It's supposed to be for me… what a betrayal. Even if Sasuke becomes more powerful than Nagato, if we can't control him, it's no use to us. I don't intend to sync him with Gedō Mazō (Demonic Statue of the Outer Path) for a while. I'll just wait and see how it goes," said Tobi.

"I'm surprised you accounted for the possibility of Nagato's death," commented Black Zetsu.

"Just in case… it's not what I would have wanted though. Uzumaki Naruto… that brat's thrown a wrench into my plans. Not only did he defeat Nagato, but was also able to convince both Nagato and Konan to betray Akatsuki, where Nagato went and used **Rinne Tensei no Jutsu **for the sake of Konoha. And now because of him I also lost a chance at collecting the Sharingan of Uchiha Shisui which was under Danzō's possession," Tobi commented.

"What are you going to do then? Will you make a move?" asked Black Zetsu.

Looking at the heavens Tobi said, "I've had enough of being cautious. I think it's time to hurry up and implement the 'Tsuki no Me Keikaku (Eye of the Moon Plan)'."

* * *

The members of Konoha 11 as they were called were in a state of shock, from disbelief to surprise and to anger. None could believe what Shikamaru had just said; especially considering it was an order from Naruto.

"Come-on man don't shit us, there is no way Naruto would order something like that," said a befuddled Kiba.

"He has, and it's true that Sasuke is a missing-nin. The usual punishment for that is death," Shikamaru said.

"B-But this is Sasuke-kun… an-and Naruto p-promised…"

It was that very moment Sai arrived interrupting Sakura's words as her eyes now focused on Sai as she asked, "Sai, is it true? Did Naruto really declare Sasuke-kun as a missing-nin?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama did," Sai informed, but was also slightly taken back by the sudden question and the anger dwelling behind it.

Silence regained the clearing for an entire minute, for neither knew how to take in this news, or rather all eyes had shifted on to the trembling figure of Haruno Sakura…

"H-How co-could he? H-He pr-promised me, pr-promised me t-that he would bring back Sa-Sasuke-kun," Sakura muttered as her whole trembled in anger.

And then her trembling stopped as she started walked away…

"Wait Sakura, where are you going?" Ino called out… she was certainly not liking where this all was going.

"I'm going to see Naruto!" Sakura answered…

Yep, this was not going to go well.

"Wait, Sakura! Storming in there and yelling at Naruto isn't going to solve anything," Ino spoke as she rushed to her best friend's side.

"But this is Sasuke-kun we are talking about… I can't stand by and let this happen! Especially after the promise he made…" Sakura said as he continued to walk on, but her path was blocked by half a dozen of ink-lions.

"Sai?!" Sakura looked at the boy with utter surprise… she wasn't the only that seemed surprised.

Sai just stood his place with an impassive look on his face as he held onto his scroll, his mind reeling back on his talk with Naruto after they had returned from a mission. He had promised back then to Naruto that he would not breathe a word of the conversation they had to Sakura, and even today he had agreed to be quite on the whole ordeal about Sasuke… Naruto was willing to confront Sakura alone. But hearing Sakura talk now he couldn't stop himself…

"No, I can't just sit here and do nothing Naruto," Sai whispered to himself, but it was loud enough for the others too here.

* * *

Silently making her way through the Konoha Cemetery her mind pondered on the recent events; so much had changed so fast in and around Konoha within a span of a few days it was unbelievable, but still things had changed that she couldn't deny.

The change started with the attack of Akatsuki on Konoha… no, it actually began with the death of Jiraiya-sama. And amidst the change had been the very boy she had admired from far-afar for as long as she could remember, and not only was he amidst the change he himself had become the centerfold of it.

Not only was Uzumaki Naruto the centerfold of the change, he too had changed. A change that did not erode his older self or beliefs, but yet was now the person many had come to idolize. His strength had also increased greatly. But above all he had achieved his lifelong dream of becoming the Hokage.

And here she was, still the unsure and shy girl that she was. He was someone she held precious to her, someone she wanted to protect and someone she wanted to stand side by side, but try she might she always failed. Her failure itself was exemplified when she had dived into save him from Pein, but she could barely save him before she was taken down by Pein and it was her stupidity that made him almost lose to his hatred and the Kyūbi sealed within him.

So engrossed in her thoughts that she was about to miss her destination, but pure instincts stopped her as she now stood in front of the grave of her mother.

It had been a while since she had been here, a while since she had let her heart out to her deceased mother, and so placing some flowers on the grave she spoke her heart out to her mother…

"So much has changed around in Konoha kaa-sama that it is hardly believable…"

It was true, especially the latest event. Each and every word Sai spoke had cut through them, even if all that was said to Sakura… the girl had been emotionally shattered. But every word that left the mouth of Sai had been a harsh reality, a harsh reality that all knew but none were willing to see… they in one way or another truly relied on Naruto too much, or rather no one seemed to be there standing alongside him as he carried on those burdens, even Shikamaru, Neji and Shino agreed to that.

Somehow it had been decided that it that they would be the one who would take care of Sasuke, to help lessen the burden on Naruto and to stop a war to break out between Kumogakure and Konohagakure because of Sasuke. It was a wonder that Sakura was still able to hold herself steady and take the responsibility of talking of it with Naruto.

It had surprised them greatly when Sai had mentioned that Naruto had made a decision regarding Sasuke, and by his voice it was clear that there was nothing that was going to deter Naruto from his decision. They had tried to pry information from Sai as to what had Naruto decided, but the ex-Root-nin had been surprisingly tight lipped.

At that moment even she didn't know what to do, and the only she could do was make a resolve…

"Please lend me your strength Kaa-sama, so that the one I've always been chasing after… and am doing so even now… lend me the strength so that I can stop chasing him… Because next time, I want to be by his side, holding his hand… walking with him! Please, lend me the strength!" she whispered.

She knew that talking to the grave of her mother did her no good, but she always felt calm whenever she was here and could feel her worries being whisked away… it was as if Hitomi Hyūga herself took away her daughter's pain, suffering and worries by holding her in her warm embrace.

She stayed at her mother's grave for another few minutes before she left onto visit the graves of other family and friends.

"Naruto-kun!" she blurted out, as she saw the very boy she was thinking of a few minutes prior standing in front of a couple of graves.

"Hinata!"

Apparently even Naruto was surprised seeing her here.

"What brings you here?" he asked as she silently walked closer to him.

"I-I was visiting the g-graves of ka-kaa-sama and other family and acquaintances…" she answered.

"Oh!" the blonde replied, slightly surprised and apologetic.

Neither said a word as she walked closer to him, and when she was close enough she was surprised to find the graves he was looking on to, for they belonged to the Yondaime Hokage and Uzumaki Kushina.

She didn't know why, but she knew she was missing something. Her eyes drifted from the graves to him and were shocked at the look of sadness and longing and somehow also of happiness; it was so confusing.

Has her eye drifted from Naruto to the grave and to Naruto again, and so on, it was then it clicked her. It was a question to an answer that had plagued her for as long as she had been admiring the blonde ninja, and a question she also knew to also plague the blonde.

The family name on the grave next to the Yondaime…

The name Uzumaki was well known throughout history, even though now days it was scarcely spoken off she was aware of the significance of the name Uzumaki. Being the heiress to the Hyūga clan not only was she supposed to be strong as a shinobi and a leader, but also to be well versed in politics and history of the past to be an efficient clan leader. It was during her studies to be the next clan leader had she heard about the Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure, a distant relative of the Senju clan.

She had always wondered why an orphan like Naruto was given the name of the Uzumaki clan, a clan which Konoha held in high regards and a clan that was no more. But now the answer was glaring back at her, for Uzumaki Naruto is the son of the last living Uzumaki known to Konoha, Uzumaki Kushina or better known as Akai Chishio no Habanero (Red Hot-Blooded Habanero), a kunoichi renowned for her beauty, strong-willed spirit and unique ninjutsu style, including the Fūinjutsu of her clan and considered one of the strongest kunoichi of her era.

And then there were the looks of Naruto-kun…

Spiky blonde hair, bright blue eyes; a feature she had been long since aware the boy she looked up to and loved shared with the very man he idolized, and now here in front of her was the reason behind it. With both the graves of the Yondaime and Uzumaki Kushina so close by, she didn't Shikamaru level intelligence to see and process it.

The truth was glaringly obvious.

As if reading her thoughts he asked, "Say Hinata, do yo visit the grave of your mother often?"

"Y-Yes, yes I do!" she answered.

For some reason she didn't like where this could possibly be heading, for she saw a look of apprehension cross the face of the blonde as he kneeled down in front of the graves and started dusting off the dust off the graves.

For the next few minutes neither spoke a word as she silently stood by and watched as Naruto gently dusted of the dusts of the grave before placing some cypress flowers on their graves.

"Say Hinata…" she was a bit startled when he suddenly spoke up, for she thought that he had completely forgotten of her presence.

But Naruto didn't seem to notice her startled look as he continued speaking, "Will they hate me?"

If she thought that she was surprised knowing that he was still aware of her presence, then this question completely knocked her off her feet.

"W-Why do you say so, Na-Naruto-kun?" she stuttered out her question.

"It's been sixteen years since the two sacrificed themselves for the sake of Konoha and me as they faced off against the Kyūbi no Yōko… 16 long years Hinata… and this happens to be the first time I am visiting them. Won't they hate me?"

The sincerity and apprehension behind the tone of Naruto made her heart clench as she blurted, "NO, THEY WOULDN'T!"

Apparently she wasn't the only one that was surprised by her sudden increase in her voice, Naruto was too.

"Hinata!" he whispered in a surprised tone.

She knew her face was flaming red and she was very close to fainting, but she knew that fainting here wasn't an option for Naruto needed her…

"Th-they wouldn't! No pa-parent would ever ha-hate their ch-child! I think neither Yo-Yondaime-sama nor Kushina-sama would e-ever hate you, for even when you d-did not kn-know of them y-you still lo-loved them," she stuttered as she fiddled with her fingers and her face grew redder (if possible).

From the corner of her eye she watched as Naruto silently stand up, his face shadowed by his hair, but when he looked at her she was once again startled, for albeit the tear-filled eyes his face adorned the brightest of smiles she had ever seen.

She thought that there was no possible way her face could grow any red… how wrong she was? She was now like a human torch.

"Thanks for that, Hinata-chan!"

And that was the boiling point.

Just recently she had confessed to him, although she had a feeling he would probably not remember it seeing the situation and the rods pierced through him… she had felt it, even if it had been for a second when she was struck down by the rod, a foreign chakra entering her system and making her mind go all fuzzy… and also knowing that Naruto liked Sakura, she had braced herself for not the kind of response she would love to hear.

But now hearing the words of Naruto… him adding the suffix _'chan'_ to her name… that was progress…

And so she did the only thing she could while talking to Naruto, she fainted.

* * *

"How's the settling in Konoha going around?" Naruto asked, as he watched Hotaru and her companions walk in his temporary office.

"I hope the brats haven't been any trouble to you?" he asked as his eyes settled onto the three companions of Hotaru.

"Oyabun (Boss)!" the three called out in disbelief… how the boss could even think that they would be troubling their client on a mission?

"On the contrary, they were a great help," answered Hotaru as her hand brushed the Konoha-hitai-te now gracing her forehead. It had been a tough call, but with assurance from Naruto and the pact between the Tsuchigumo clan with both the Sandaime and the Godaime allowed her the rank of chūnin within Konoha… though she was told that Naruto was not ever of the entity of the pact between Tsunade and the Tsuchigumo clan. She could wait, for even she wasn't ready to take such a big step… even if she had come to like the blonde while he was with her on the mission.

"Oi, Hotaru! Hotaru! You with us…?" Naruto questioned as he looked into the dark-green glazed eyes of Hotaru.

She blinked her eyes a couple of times as she heard the worried voice of Naruto call out to her; it made her realize that she had spaced out on him. Her eyes blinked another couple of times as the glazed look washed off her eyes and she quickly regretted it, though it was a pleasant regret as her dark-green eyes stared directly into bright-blue ones.

"I-I am," she stuttered as a pink hue graced her lips as she averted the blonde's gaze.

"Good!" Naruto said, "I hope you like it here in Konoha, even though Konoha isn't in full glory now."

"I-I do. The people around were very nice and the Konohamaru corps were a great help," Hotaru answered.

"That's good," Naruto said and then turning to the Konohamaru corps, "and a job well done guys."

"It is our duty, Hokage-Oyabun!" the three genin called out as they saluted Naruto making his eyebrows to twitch and Hotaru to giggle.

* * *

"This really brings backs memories," commented Naruto as he along with Kakashi and Yamato were in the Training Ground in which the old Team 7 trained together and the one which he had further advanced the **Rasengan**.

"It does. I was under the impression that after teaching you wind-chakra manipulation and after helping you on the Rasenshuriken I wouldn't be needed to train you more. But I guess I was proven wrong, and I don't regret it at all. You truly are the most unpredictable ninja ever," Kakashi said with an eye-smile.

"Hehehe… that I am, -ttebayo!" the blonde answered.

"That you are. Who would have imagined you to be in a possession of the **Sharingan** eye of Uchiha Shisui? And for the eye to be handed to you by Uchiha Itachi… all of it is just completely unpredictable," Yamato answered… his head was still spinning because of it.

"Well, we can think of it later for we have very little time to get Naruto to get used to the eye," Kakashi commented.

"Yeah, we don't," Naruto commented as he forced chakra to his left eye forcing the **Sharingan** to blaze into action. A couple of seconds later after activating the **Sharingan** eye he was forced to shut close his right eye, "Now I understand why you always have your right eye closed whenever you unmask the **Sharingan** eye… the perception of both the eyes is so different."

"And you thought that I loved to be the cool single-eye shinobi," Kakashi replied back.

"Hehehe…" Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Well, we could talk about the difference in perception of a normal eye compared to that of the **Sharingan**, but we don't have that much time, so we will directly begin with the training," commented Kakashi and before Naruto could reply he was forced to dodge a dozen of kunai thrown at him by Yamato.

* * *

_The present…_

_Sunagakure no Sato…_

Hordes of shinobi were gathered to see off the Kazekage to the Gokage Kaidan.

Gaara looked up, the desert wind caressing his face, as he looked back to his people who were there to see him off. Young and old, men and women. His people.

"Please take care of yourself, Gaara-sama…" a shinobi called out.

"Temari-san, Kankurō-san, please take good care of Kazekage-sama," another called out.

Temari waved her hand to the townspeople flapping her cloak as she said, "We will."

Even though she seemed perfect on the task, her mind reeled with worry, especially considering the latest news that had reached their ears and the reason behind the Gokage Kaidan being called for. 'I hope he is okay,' she thought out loud… with recent activities he would be the centerfold of the incoming danger.

Kankurō however, rolled his eyes. "Not like he needs bodyguards anyway." He chuckled, knowing few people could actually strike Gaara without being killed.

"All right…" Gaara looked back to the open desert. "…Let's go."

* * *

_Iwagakure no Sato…_

Crowds of Iwa-shinobi were gathered to see their Tsuchikage depart for the Gokage Kaidan.

"Akatsuchi! Kurotsuchi! Please take good care of Tsuchikage-sama!" a random shinobi called.

"Tsuchikage, show them what you got!" another followed.

"It's a pain going to a meeting at my age," The Tsuchikage complained, rubbing his hip.

The Tsuchikage was an old man with a size of one and half times his head piece. His facial features included a triangular beard and a moustache with angular corners. He had a big red nose and thick rectangular-shaped eyebrows. The top of his head was completely bald, although, he had some white hair at the back and sides of his head, the back of which was tied with a yellow ribbon into a topknot. Ōnoki wore a unique green and yellow coat with a red collar. Underneath he wore an Iwagakure flak jacket.

"You youngsters don't understand how your hip becomes a virtual time bomb!" he complained once again.

The female of the group, wearing the standard uniform of Iwa Jōnin with short, black hair and pupil-less, pink eyes (depicted as black in the anime) and are accentuated by her eyelashes running upwards at the corners grinned at the Tsuchikage. "Why don't retire you then gramps? You can't really rely on your former glory forever." She suggested with a teasing smile.

The biggest of the three, a plump man towering over the two, gave a laugh and leaned down while laughing. "I'll carry your luggage of your shoulders, Tsuchikage-sama."

The old man lashed out at the man, stubborn to carry his own luggage. "Don't touch, Akatsuchi! I don't need your help!" he shouted as he then placed the saddles to his shoulders and lifted… but a loud sickening crack was heard that both escorts flinched at and then…

"OOOOOOOOHHHH! MY HIPS!" The Tsuchikage shouted in agony shaking from the sudden gush of unpleasant nerves signaling he sit this one out. But what remained him standing on his feet and preventing him to fall down was his pride as the Tsuchikage.

Kurotsuchi, while trying hard to contain her laughter, placed her hands on her hips almost mockingly. "What do you say? Should you send someone else in your place?" She asked, grinning.

The old man glanced up at her, trying not to fall over as sweat ran down his face. "D-Don't be ridiculous! Who do you think I am? I'm the Tsuchikage! Fearsome leader of Iwagakure! I'll carry my own luggage!"

Kurotsuchi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, the Tsuchikage could be stubborn at the most unwarranted of times. "Good grief, what stubborn old goat," she whispered.

Meanwhile Akatsuchi did what he could do the best as he lifted the old man onto his back with the luggage on the Tsuchikage's back.

"Alright, carry your own luggage then, let's go!" He exclaimed with a large smile.

The old man couldn't really deny that request, besides a free ride is all that this old man needs to ease the pain on his back!

Beside them, Kurotsuchi shook her head at her Kage's behavior… though her mind was reeling back to one of encounters on a mission more than a year back, an annoying yet pleasant one, and try she might even after more than a year she could barely forget him. So, she couldn't help but wonder whether she would be meeting him in near future at all, especially if the Gokage Kaidan were to be a success… the village he hailed from and her village weren't exactly on good terms.

* * *

_Kirigakure no Sato…_

Groups of Kiri-shinobi too were gathered to see off their Kage to the Gokage Kaidan.

"Now please take good care of yourself," said an old man as handed the hat of the Mizukage to the rightful wearer, the man's hand wavering and shaking due to his old age. The others were simply amazed of this man's dedication to the village.

"Don't let anything go wrong," the old man continued holding the snake ornamented staff that he held.

The Mizukage, a slender woman in her thirties with green eyes, and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band and with four bangs at the front, of which two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye and two are long, crossing each other on her bust and just below her chin. She is wearing a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees and seems to be closed at the front with a zip, and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covers up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wears mesh armor that covers more of her upper body than her dress, but stops short of covering her shoulders and still leaves a sizeable amount of her cleavage exposed. She is also wearing skirt of the same color as her dress and underneath those she is wearing mesh leggings that reach down over her knees. Around her waist she is wearing a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue polish on her fingers and toes, and is usually shown with fuchsia lipstick.

Holding onto the hat in her hand she smiled and said, "I swear in my honor as Mizukage, I will fulfill my duty in the best of my ability."

"Hohoho…" the old man seemed pleased with her response.

"Chōjūrō, as one of the Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsmen) you must protect the Mizukage," one of the Shinobi told a younger looking boy that was clearly the Mizukage's body guard.

"I-I think… I'll be fine… probably," Chōjūrō said, with nervousness in his voice.

"Have faith in yourself, Chōjūrō, you're strong." the Mizukage praised her bodyguard with a smile.

"That is the reason you were chosen to be one of my guards, ok Chōjūrō?" she continued as she crouched on the boy's eye level and smiled making the young boy blush and nod with a smile.

"Bah, you kids today… Why can't you just say 'Yes, ma'am!'? We don't need you spouting on about, 'I'll do my best!' Be a man, Chōjūrō! Grow a damn spine!" the other bodyguard Ao exclaimed with a shake of his head.

The Mizukage fell silent at that as the older man ranted about his generation and then Chōjūrō's generation. The Mizukage suddenly had that urge to behead the spouting old goat for reminding her that she needed a man in her life since she was almost half past the prime age of marriage.

"Shut up Ao or I'll kill you!" She said that with venom laced in her voice making Ao look at her with a puzzled and frightened look.

He was instantaneously silent; the Mizukage sometimes was a very scary woman, even when he barely said anything. Then again it is usually when he mentions something about a man, but hell it wasn't like he mentioned marriage, which even he knew she was sensitive to. How she never found a man he would never know, especially when it's someone as beautiful as her, and then she had her personality which was a very kind and caring woman… with another side that can scare the shit out of any male.

The Mizukage could feel the cold air all around her as she thought about her male troubles, for some reason she could just never find the right man for her, they were either afraid of her or a complete pervert, something even she despised. With a dejected sigh, the Mizukage walked with her escorts slouching down in depression. She had hoped at least, that she might find someone in Iron Country that will likely sweep her off her feet!

If only she knew…

* * *

_Kumogakure no Sato…_

A, the Raikage, is a tall dark-skinned man with a large muscular build, with his white hair combed back, a small moustache and beard. His top lip also had a darker hue than the bottom one and he had a mole over his right eyebrow; traits he inherited from his father. Unlike other Kage, A seemed to wear his Kage cloak and hat on a regular basis without a shirt underneath, further displaying his hulking physique. He has black fūma shuriken tattoos on both shoulders and had gold bangle bracelets on each wrist which had protrusions. He also wore a gold belt around his waist with a boar's face engraved in the centre. All of these aspects combined gave him the appearance of a professional wrestler.

"Still no news from Samui's team?" The Raikage asked his secretary.

"No, but I think we'll hear from them soon," his secretary – a dark-skinned young woman with green eyes wearing very formal attire consisting of a long-sleeved, high-collared dress shirt and skirt, along with a pair of long earrings and sandals and had her light grey hair pulled back into a bun with two bangs that fall on either side of her face – answered. "Besides, Samui knows the route to the meeting place. You'll probably meet up with her or at least intercept her on the road."

"Alright, everything's set… Let's do this!" He looked at his two personal body guards beside him.

"Shī! Darui!" The Raikage shouted, slapping himself with both his hands and jumping through the glass stained window, sending glass and wood everywhere.

Shī sighed at the actions of the Raikage.

"Come on!" Shī said to Darui.

Darui shook his head, "Nah, I think I'll use the door instead, It's safer for me and my wallet. I'll catch up with you soon enough." He said moving towards the door as Shi jumped through the large hole.

When they were gone, the Raikage's assistant sighed as she viewed the destruction.

* * *

_Konohagakure no Sato…_

"Well, shall we…" Naruto said to his two companions as he crossed the gates of the village.

News had spread fast around Konoha that he was going to leave for the Gokage Kaidan and hordes of people, shinobi and civilian alike had come to see him off and wish him luck.

He was currently dressed in an outfit similar to the standard Konoha outfit, but in black instead of blue and without the flak jacket… even as a Kage he was still genin by rank. Above the standard outfit he wore a short-sleeved, long red coat with high collar and black flame pattern along the hemline and with by the usage of dark blue kanji the words Rokudaime Hokage (Sixth Hokage) written vertically down the back (the cloak resembles that of Namikaze Minato). The customary Hokage Hat rested over his head.

"Indeed," replied back Kakashi with his usual bored tone, but still you could see the calm sharpness in his single eye.

"Ready when you are, _Hokage-sama (heart)_," the third member of the group responded, as she called him Hokage-sama in a sweet, seductive tone.

He felt his eyebrows twitch at that wondering what he was thinking while bringing along Mitarashi Anko as the second guard… oh yeah, it had to do with her suicidal mission attempt to go against Kabuto, alone. It had actually taken a verbal fight with her to convince her that she would be allowed to continue the mission when she would have a team along with her, and being the hyperactive woman she was she opted to be his personal guard for the Gokage Kaidan since he would not let her go hunt Kabuto. He agreed. And now he was regretting it. Apparently she had ulterior motive behind being his guard.

* * *

This was their final stop before they would reach Tetsu no Kuni and its cold climate. It was for the first time that Naruto was actually happy that he decided against Yamato coming along, for if the man were here they would be staying in his Mokuton house and would have to savage from their own food stock. But currently it wasn't so, and so he along with Kakashi and Anko had the pleasure of staying at an inn with a hot-spring and delicious food.

Now resting in a room he shared with Kakashi, Naruto's mind wandered onto the upcoming meeting and the trouble and change it was bound to bring…

"Where is Anko?" he suddenly asked… he hadn't seen her after the delicious dinner. Even though he should be grateful that she wasn't around for now seeing that she had been flirting with him all the way till here, but still knowing the situation he rather have in his proximity then let her loose on the world.

"Anko! She said she wanted to go take a dip in the hot-spring bath…" commented Kakashi with his eye buried in the book he was reading.

"Oh!" he had completely forgotten about the hot-spring bath.

"Well, I am off too sensei, nothing like a refreshing bath…" he muttered and walked out of the room…

But before he could leave the room he heard perverted giggles leave the lips of Hatake Kakashi, and knowing his sensei…

"Stop your perverted thoughts, you Katame no Hentai (One-eyed Pervert)! I am not going to go peep on Anko," he said looking at the man in question.

"I did not say anything about you peeping on Anko?" Kakashi replied back his eye still fixed on the book. "Should I be start worrying about the kunoichi of Konoha, or is it just that you find my kōhai Anko irresistible? No wonder you agreed of her being one of your guards. So many hearts are going to be broken back in Konoha and all around."

Twitch…

Twitch, Twitch…

"It isn't like that, -ttebayo. I don't see Anko like that," he replied with his voice growing a few octaves.

"Is that so. Well, Anko will be disappointed," muttered Kakashi.

Twitch, Twitch, Twitch…

"That's it, you are banned from getting your hands on Icha-Icha Boundaries," he shouted.

For the first time Kakashi single eye was lifted above from the book and was squared on Naruto as he squeaked out, "I-Icha-Icha B-Boundaries?"

"Yeah. Well, Ero-Sennin had all ready put down the draft for it, and it was just to be penned down. So I decided to do the honors in his place," answered Naruto and walked out leaving behind a gaping Kakashi… no one won against Naruto in pranks, be it large scale or verbal.

* * *

This was refreshing and soothing, far more than he had originally thought. Apparently the hot-water springs of this place was not only a refreshing spot, but the hot water seemed to have great healing properties too.

The idea of staying here was truly great, for he had been pushing himself beyond his bounds for quite some time now… he did so during the Senjutsu training under Fukasaku-jii-chan, during his fight with Pein, during his fight with Danzō and later while he trained to get a hand of using the **Sharingan**… and his body needed a well deserved rest, and this outdoor hot-spring bath was doing a fantastic job at that.

The training to get used to the Sharingan had gone better than either he or Kakashi had expected it to be; somehow his training in Sage Mode came in handy while training to adapt to the **Sharingan**… his sensing abilities in Sage Mode and training in **Kawazu Kumite (Frog Kata)** enabled him to predict the movements of his enemies for easy retaliation, which was similar to the 'Eye of Insight' of the **Sharingan** and for the 'Eye of Hypnotism', the eye of Uchiha Shisui gave him the edge. Somehow he was even capable of using all the **Sharingan** related jutsus that Shisui was capable of using… though not on a level the famed genjutsu user could.

So lost in his thoughts he was that he failed to notice another person join him in the open air bath house, and it was only the splashing of water on the body of the person made him realize that he wasn't alone.

His eyes shifted to the source of the splashing, and as they locked onto the source not only did they widen to an epic proportion but were also glued to the spot.

The long flowing auburn hair held in a bun to not get it soaked, her fair skin glistening under the moonlight with the water droplets further enhancing the suture of her skin, her angelic face with green eyes and fuchsia-colored lipstick radiated under the lights of the moon and her luscious naked body had his breath hitched away.

There in front of his eyes was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his young life of sixteen years, and that was saying something seeing that he knew people like Tsunade, Shizune, Anko, Kurenai, Konan, Kazahana Koyuki and many more, but somehow the woman simply trumped them with her beauty. He also knew of girls like Hinata, Ino and others who would also grow to be as beautiful as the woman in his eyesight, but that was a future and he was a person who lived for the present…

And at the present moment his eyes were focused on the water droplets that rolled down the angelic face, while on the way caressing the luscious lips, rolling down the neck that screamed to be bitten, to her collar bone area and then down onto those big, firm and captivating bosoms… he really wished those were his hands that would gently caress those heavenly mounds instead of the water droplets… and further down onwards to her shapely belly that seemed to be ready to be eaten and then further down the nether region…

As blood dribbled down his nose only one word left his mouth, a word that summarized the beauty in front of him…

"Lovely!"

Either the bath house carried the voices all around or he hadn't spoken in a low voice as he had wanted to, for green met blue…

There was first shock, then curiosity…

"My, aren't you a good looking one, and a healthy one too…" the woman commented in a sweet tone, the last words spoken because of his reaction to her heavenly beauty… How couldn't he? He was a healthy teenager… but for some reason send chill down his spine.

But then the curiosity in those green orbs turned into anger, anger that turned those alluring orbs into eldritch flames…

"I don't think the world would miss a pervert, even though he is both cute and handsome at the same time," she commented offhandedly… and before Naruto could try to clarify the situation her hands quickly flew through a set of hand-seals and thrusting her hands at him she shot at him a high-speed blast of water.

He was lucky that he was at some distance from her that he had time to react to the incoming high-speed blast of water, for the water easily crushed a boulder behind him.

"That's dangerous…" he whispered…

"My, aren't you an agile one," he heard her say and looking at her he found multiple orbs of water floating around her…

"**Mizu no Ya (Water Arrow)!**" she called out as the orbs shot at him with blinding speed, as if hordes of arrows.

"**Fūka Fūjinheki (Flowering Wind Ward Barrier)!**" he whispered as a defensive pyramid-shaped bounded field created by air currents surrounded him in time as the **Mizu no Ya** were close enough to strike him.

The **Fūka Fūjinheki **was a jutsu born through his skills in barrier ninjutsu and fūton ninjutsu, a defensive jutsu capable of holding its own against rampaging summons like Gamabunta. But even as powerful as the jutsu was, it had a glaring weakness, for the effect only lasts an instant even after he tried to increase the amount of chakra behind the jutsu.

But for him that very instant was enough as **Fūka Fūjinheki **was able to easily block the likes of **Mizu no Ya**, and in some cases bounced off to different directions.

"And you are skilled too," she commented… he could hear the surprise in her voice.

"It's a shame really to kill such a fine young man, but you left me no choice… though I will give you a kiss to remember me by," she commented.

'What the-' "This isn't what it look likes," he shouted out desperately…

Years with Ero-Sennin had thought him that being caught when you are perverting on a woman (even if it isn't so and only looks so by the point of the said woman) and you are caught by the woman, you would lucky to escape unscathed… but Ero-Sennin didn't mention anything about a woman capable of spitting out globs of lava as he watched all the entrance to open air bath house being sealed by the hardened lava. The sky above was an option, but for some reason he felt that the woman in front of him had it covered, just like the towel that now covered her body… though it left little to imagination after he had seen her in her entire glory.

"Then do tell me how it is?" she questioned in a sickly sweet tone as her hands flipped through hand-seals.

But before he could respond a voice from inside the inn called out…

"Mizukage-sama, is everything all right inside there? Is our assistant needed?"

He identified it to be a male voice, a male who was possibly as old as or older than Kakashi, but that was not was on the forefront of his mind, it was the fact that the man had called out to the Mizukage…

"You dare get in here Ao and you will have your balls melted," the woman replied back.

He had heard the min right, and to the call of the man the goddesses of beauty in front of him had replied.

"Mizukage?" he spoke in a questioning tone as he looked at her.

"That I am," she replied back and was about to unleash her jutsu when he felt a present behind him and by the looks the she did too.

"My, and here I thought this was going to be our private time to rekindle the skin-ship between us… but I was just a few seconds late and you already moved on. _So naughty of you, Hokage-sama! (Heart)_"

He didn't need to turn around to know the identity of the person, the flirtatious voice along with her flirty words simply gave her away… Mitarashi Anko was one of the very few women who knew how to rile him to such situations.

"Hokage?!" the Mizukage spoke as she looked at him in disbelief.

"That I am… Rokudaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto at your humble service," he said with a dramatic bow looking directly at the Mizukage.

The awkwardness of the situation was very much alive, with him stark naked and the Mizukage only draped in a towel that barely hid the body of the goddess…

* * *

Last night had been awkward was an understatement…

It was rare for shinobi from one of the five great shinobi villages to come across each other on missions, and even if they did it was mostly on the opposing ends, and so for shinobi of two nations to somehow not only end in the same inn but also heading to the same destination was a rare occurrence, especially considering that it were the Kage and their guards. It also didn't help that the Kage were involved in a very awkward situation caused due to a misunderstanding.

Even after the situation had been resolved by an overly zealous Anko, the two groups had stayed by themselves for the night… somehow a no-contract treaty for the night was agreed upon without such a treaty even being presented. But now with a new day the two groups had to come across, for both their destinations were the same.

Again it seemed as if an unknown pact had been sealed with the two parties that even though they journeyed the same destination together there would be no words exchanged. But even that silent agreement didn't seem to stop Terumī Mei from eyeing the young Hokage as they hoped from tree to tree to reach their destination.

She had heard of Uzumaki Naruto before, for the boy was known to being the apprentice of Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin and also being known to be the only to have won against the Godaime Kazekage in a fair fight. He was also amongst the team that had put down Zabuza and his associate Haku and a hero to many small nations, and it was on one such mission did he kill Kurosuki Raiga. There was information that he was one of the very few that crossed paths with all the Akatsuki members and Orochimaru and lived, and if the recent information was to be believed than he had faced against the leader of Akatsuki – the man that had destroyed Konoha singlehandedly – and had defeated him. There were rumor that he had been responsible to the change of the heart of the Akatsuki leader, which had resulted to the all dead during the invasion to be amongst the living again because of a jutsu of the Rinnegan that the Akatsuki leader wielded.

As they continued their journey towards Tetsu no Kuni, she silently surveyed her counterpart from Konoha. Currently the said boy was dressed in a black outfit similar to the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, but he did not wear the flak jacket and above the standard outfit he wore a short-sleeved, long red coat with high collar and black flame pattern along the hemline and with by the usage of dark blue kanji the words Rokudaime Hokage (Sixth Hokage) written vertically down the back (the cloak resembles that of Namikaze Minato). The customary Hokage Hat rested over his head. Try she might, she couldn't help herself from comparing the blonde Hokage with another blonde and a Hokage to boot… the resemblance was too uncanny to be just a coincidence.

But still to see a Kage so young… there was already the Kazekage who was as young as the Hokage, but the situation with the Kazekage was completely different. Not only was the Godaime Kazekage the son of the Yondaime Kazekage, and was one of the strongest of Suna and the only liable option as the Kazekage. That didn't mean she took away the hard work the Kazekage must have put into achieving the title, especially considering that he was once one of the most hated individual in Suna…

The situation with the Hokage was quite different and yet similar. Uzumaki Naruto was also one of the most disliked individuals of Konoha because of him being the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko. Not only that, Konoha also had renowned shinobi to replace the comatose Tsunade (as per information), one of them being Hatake Kakashi who was currently the guard of the Rokudaime Hokage along with Mitarashi Anko, the other being the infamous Shinobi no Yami – Shimura Danzō.

There was also the fact that the blonde was given the name Uzumaki, the name of the long annihilated clan of Uzushiogakure. It was well known theory that the survivors of the feared clan had went into hiding and scattered all around the world. In fact one of the many survivors of the Uzumaki clan had once been a shinobi of Konohagakure and died during the night of the Kyūbi attack on Konoha, the infamous Akai Chishio no Habanero – Uzumaki Kushina.

"Such a mysterious one," she whispered.

Suddenly she sensed presence of many shinobi surrounding their group; it was evident from the fact that albeit not being a sensor she could feel their presence.

"Mizukage-sama…" Ao silently whispered to her.

"I know," she replied.

Glancing to her side she saw that Chōjūrō was ready too, albeit the young swordsman seemed a bit nervous. And then glancing a further sideways she found the Hokage and his guards on the alert too…

Green met Blue…

It just took eye contact for her to know that he intended to deal with the situation on his own and had apparently had his decision already conveyed to his guards, and those eyes asked for her to stand down along with her guards.

Normally she wouldn't comply with such a request, especially considering the size of the group that had surrounded them… there seemed to be around twenty shinobi around them. But the person with the request was a Kage, and she was curious about his skills after all and so she silently nodded back while motioning her guards to stay down much to their surprise.

And just as she expected a few minutes later the hidden group attacked them from all sides; if she remembered correctly the ones that were attacking them were the Prajñā Group of the Hayashi no Kuni (Land of Woods).

Her eyes shifted towards the Hokage and found his right palm shimmering with wind…

"**Fūton: Tenran (Wind Release: Orchid Sky)!**" she heard him whisper as he slashed the empty air around him in a horizontal semi-circle.

The winds stirred around her and she felt herself trapped in a gale, and looking back so did her and the Hokage's guards… it was as if the winds were protecting them. The gust around them picked pace and in seconds formed into a gale which caught the incoming assassins in them and they were assaulted by countless invisible blades, carving up their body. Looking closely she found that all the assault on those assassins was enough to Incapacitate them, rather them being killed.

But this small demonstration was enough for her to say that the Hokage was not someone to be trifled with, despite him being young. And the other being that the Hokage was quite skilled with Fūton ninjutsu.

* * *

"Speak… Why target us?" Naruto asked the one of the assassins that hadn't been incapacitated by his jutsu, his eyes burning with anger and tone releasing venom… Kakashi had said the assassins to be of the Prajñā Group, a regiment of the ANBU of the Land of Woods which were thought to have been annihilated.

"You… you are not Shimura Danzō," the one Naruto held onto choked out… a man possibly in his late thirties.

"That I am not…" Naruto replied back and with his grip on the man tightening he continued, "but you still haven't answered my question? Or would you want Anko on your case?"

"Come on Hokage-sama, why are you wasting our time… let me at him," the overzealous Anko muttered… currently she was being restrained by Kakashi, who certainly didn't seem much caring about restraining Anko.

Anko had already scared Chōjūrō, one of the guards of the Mizukage and apparently her fame as a sadistic and torture-expert was well known throughout the Elemental Nations, and that very fame and her current overzealousness seemed to have scared the assassin too…

"It was Danzō… Danzō and his Root are the one responsible for the annihilation of our division and attack on Hayashi no Kuni. We are the last of the group and our goal is to kill Shimura Danzō, and there were rumors circulating around that Danzō might be the Rokudaime Hokage and was on his way to Gokage Kaidan," the man parroted.

"I see…" Kakashi commented.

"And for that reason you setup an ambush on the way towards Tetsu no Kuni, the most possible route that the Hokage would take," commented Ao… the man had been quite surprised at the ease with which the Hokage took down seventeen ANBU level shinobi.

"We did," commented the ANBU.

"Well, I guess I have to burst your bubble… I am Uzumaki Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure…" Naruto said his eyes hardened as steel making the eyes of the ANBU go wide "… and as for Danzō and his Root, the organization had been banned and Danzō is dead."

"Dead?" the ANBU looked completely surprised and so did the shinobi from Kirigakure.

"That he is…" commented Naruto.

Kakashi decided to clarify it further as he spoke, "Danzō killed himself after being defeated at the hands of the Hokage…" his single eye pointing at Naruto "… and with his death the Root was disbanded."

By the end of Kakashi's words you could already see varied reactions cross across the face of those that were not a shinobi of Konoha, from shock, to amusement and to awe.

* * *

_Later That Day…_

_Tetsu no Kuni…_

The Hokage and Mizukage along with their entourage had finally made it to the large building where the meeting was being held. It wasn't long before they were ushered into the meeting room that held all of the Kage's. Around a curved table sat three of the Kages and on the top level were their bodyguards, all looking over their own Kage to make sure no one made a move on them.

"Place your hats on the table…" the mediator of the Gokage Kaidan, the man named Mifune, the general of Tetsu no Kuni spoke.

Placing his hat down Naruto could feel the gazes of all the Kage on him, curious and surprising in case of Gaara, calculating and curious in case of the Raikage and Tsuchikage and apparently admiration in case of the Mizukage.

"You are all here because the Raikage has called this meeting, but before that I would like for everyone to introduce themselves," Mifune said.

The first to do the honors was…

"Gaara, Godaime Kazekage," spoke Gaara… his one eye with curiosity still continued to look at the blonde.

"Terumī Mei, Godaime Mizukage," the auburn-haired, green-eyed goddess spoke. Currently she was dressed in a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees and seems to be closed at the front with a zip, and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wore a mesh armor that covered more of her upper body than her dress, but stopped short of covering her shoulders and still leaved a sizeable amount of her cleavage exposed. She also was wearing a skirt in the same color as her dress and underneath that she wore mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist she was wearing a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees, fuchsia-colored polish on her fingers and toes, and fuchsia-colored lipstick.

She truly was a goddess in all sense… at least in the eyes of Naruto, and apparently she also seemed slightly interested in him as her eye shifted to him from time to time and you could see the curiosity and a slight awe in them.

"Ē (A), Yondaime Raikage," spoke the Raikage; a tall dark-skinned man with a large muscular build, with his blonde hair combed back, a small moustache and beard. Currently he is wearing the Kage haori and hat without a shirt underneath, further displaying his hulking physique.

"Ōnoki, Sandaime Tsuchikage," spoke the Tsuchikage; a very short, old man with a triangular beard and a moustache that has angular corners, a big red nose and thick eyebrows. The top of his head is completely bald, although, he has long white hair on the lower-half of his head which is styled in a traditional chonmage hair cut, the back of which is tied with a yellow ribbon into a topknot. Ōnoki is wearing a green and yellow coat with a red collar and underneath which he is wearing the traditional Iwagakure outfit consistent of flak jacket and mesh armor. He however has both his sleeves of his shirt, but has kept the single lapel on his right side.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage," spoke Naruto… it was decided amongst the elders, the jōnin commander and him that from now he would be using his full name, or at least for the Gokage Kaidan.

"Namikaze?" Ōnoki questioned with a sneer, the name giving him a bad taste on his tongue.

"I wasn't aware the Yondaime Hokage had a relative," the Mizukage spoke, her eyes brimming with more curiosity then before.

Looking around you could also see the curiosity in Gaara's eyes and could already see the gears turning in the eyes of the Raikage… the man seemed to have put the dots together.

"Only a handful were," Naruto answered the Mizukage's question. "And I am not just any ordinary relative, Mizukage-dono, for I am the son of the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."

You could literally see the eyes of the other head of hidden villages and Tetsu no Kuni, and so was the case with guards that were up in the balcony seat… Konoha had just dropped a major bomb at the Gokage Kaidan, and Uzumaki Naruto was going to have fun exploiting the situation.

* * *

**The fourth chapter was finally finished.**

**Surprisingly the chapter didn't feature the Gokage Kaidan, apart at the very end… I just had some stuff that I had to add and before I knew I reached over ten-thousand words. But I had nothing against it, for I already wanted to see the Sakura situation brought up, have a Naruto-Hinata scene (not the type where he will suddenly realize her love for him and fall head over heels to the white-eyed beauty) and a scenario with the Water Goddess (the Mizukage)…**

**To be precise the chapter was a gradual build up towards the relationships/harem I intend to put forth.**

**Naruto-Hinata-Samui-Kurotsuchi-Ino-Temari-Terumī Mei (?)-Sakura (?)-Tenten (?)-anime filler girls (?)… The one with question mark are the ones that are undecided.**


End file.
